Fighting Off Struggles
by Moving Mountains
Summary: Raven is severely attacked and left for dead. Now as the Titans try to find the man responsible, a new friend arrives on the scene. How will he affect the Titans and what secrets will be revealed?... RobRae... please read and review. CHAPTER 10 ADDED!
1. Down And Defeated

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Teen Titans, but I own my own characters later on...

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CHAPTER 1 - DOWN AND DEFEATED

It was an unusual evening in Titans Tower. The five teenaged superheroes had spent most of day fighting villains and protecting Jump City, and they were all exhausted, especially Raven who hadn't been feeling to well lately. Raven accompanied by Robin, Cyborg, Beast Boy and Starfire, crawled (not literally) into the Control Room and slumped on the sofa.

"I thought today would never end!" Beast Boy said, grabbing the Gamestation controller to cheer himself up.

"Tell me about it! Whoever set all those prisoners free is gonna pay!" Cyborg said, heading to the sink to get a long deserved glass of water.

Everyone nodded in agreement. Even for them, it had been a really stressful day… first a battle with Slade at the docks, then Control Freak showed up during their pizza break, closely followed by a fight with the Cardiac in the park, and finally a fight with Adonis, which lasted particularly long because they were so worn out that they didn't have the energy to attack. And it was all thanks to some idiot who thought it would be a laugh to free all the criminals and their jobs harder. But it was their job, and Robin always made sure his team-mates and friends were in tip top condition.

"I think we should all get some sleep." Robin suggested, taking the controller off of Beast Boy. He groaned and made his way to his messy bedroom, followed by Cyborg and Starfire who yawned as they walked to their bedrooms after saying goodnight.

Now, it was only Raven and Robin left. Robin got of the sofa and Raven followed him and stood up. She started to feel dizzy and clasped her forehead as her eyes glazed over. Robin looked around and saw her collapse back onto the sofa.

"Raven?" he shouted, gently shaking her. After a minute of shaking, she finally came around and saw Robin's concerned, masked face staring at her.

"Raven! Are you okay?" he asked, helping her sit up. Raven moved her hand away from her head.

"I guess I'm more tired than I thought." she groaned.

Robin couldn't help but notice how drained she looked, even for Raven. Because she could only show a little emotion, she always looked a little down hearted but she had lost all colour in her originally pale face and she had bags under her eyes, plus the fact she couldn't even stand without the room spinning. "You're really pale." Robin said putting the back of his palm against her forehead. "You're burning up Rae. How long have you been sick?" he asked.

"I haven't been feeling 100 lately. It started about two days ago." Raven explained as the Boy Wonder got up to fetch her a glass of water. "I'm just gonna get some fresh air and clear my head." She accepted the water that Robin held up to her and drunk it all. "Thanks."

"No problem." Robin smiled, holding out his arm. "Need a hand outside?" he asked, seeing that Raven couldn't walk very far.

"Don't worry. I'll be fine." Raven attempted a smile, but was even too tired to move her cheek muscles. Robin wasn't too happy leaving Raven alone, but he took her word for it. He knew that if he pushed her, she'd resent him.

"Okay then, but get some sleep. If you still feel bad tomorrow then tell me okay." Robin said comfortingly. He walked out of the Control Room towards his own bedroom, leaving Raven alone to slowly make her way outside. She walked down to where the sea bashed against the rocky sides of the island where her home was located. The seawater was soothing to her and whenever Beast Boy annoyed her, she would go out here to relax and calm down if she felt angry. She could sit and watch the ocean all day… if she didn't have to fight crime, or cook lunch for the team, or meditate, or socialise with her friends. Other than her bedroom, her sanctuary of books, veils and darkness, the outside of the Tower was her favourite place, and right at that moment, she just needed to get some fresh air and was happy to sit alone.

"Ah, peace and quiet." she smiled to herself as she watched the swash of the waves collide with the jagged rocks by her feet.

"Not for long!"

Raven quickly turned around as she felt a cold hand grab her arm and throw her into the side of the Tower. Struggling to arise, she rubbed her bleeding head and focused her eyes on her attacker. She could only see two bright, yellow eyes bearing into her scared, amethyst coloured iris'. Raven stood up, leaning against the wall of the tower for support.

"Who are you?" she shouted, rather hoping that one of her friends would hear her and come to her aid. Usually, she would have fought fearlessly against this villain, but being in her current condition, she wanted help, and judging by the silent response coming from inside the tower, she sighed and knew she was alone on this one. Raven got ready to run inside as her attacker drew closer to her, knowing she was in trouble, but the mysterious person got to her first, firing a yellow electrical wave towards her, which struck with full force. Raven screamed in terror and pain before collapsing to the cold rocky floor. The attacker walked up beside her.

"You should know." the husky voice laughed evilly, picking up Raven's helpless body and chucking her up in the air, only to watch her fall hard against the floor. Raven rolled over and clutched her arm, which was awfully bruised, even though you couldn't see it through the dark sky. She once again struggled up, not ready to be pushed around, although her body couldn't take much more abuse.

"Don't make me ask you twice!" Raven said threateningly, wincing as she produced two black balls of dark energy around her hands, which were covered in scratches. Raven's power didn't phase the attacker one bit, who simply dodged the beam of dark energy being propelled towards him. He jumped up and sent a roundhouse kick into Raven's chest, causing her to fall backwards and grab her aching stomach. Raven wanted to just lay there and admit defeat, but being a Teen Titan, defeat wasn't in her vocabulary as far as she was concerned. So, being the strong girl she was, she used her arm to sit up and stare into the yellow eyes of the dark man standing behind her.

"Sweet dreams Raven." The attacker laughed, sending a penultimate punch to her face, followed by a final electrical beam. The beam sent Raven flying across the rocks and landed outside the front door of the tower. She lay there, unmoving, but still conscious. She attempted to lift her head and watch her attacker fly into the darkness of the night sky, but was too weak, and settled for the darkness of unconsciousness as her eyes fluttered and her mouth let out one last moan of pain. With a bleeding head, bruises all over her pale, frail body, a busted arm, a scarred stomach and burn marks from the electrical attacks she'd faced, she hoped it was all a dream. But, the evil laugh she heard, the last thing she heard before falling in unconsciousness, made her realise that she was in reality. Well, at that moment, a deep sleep.

* * *

The next morning, Robin, Cyborg, Beast Boy and Starfire awoke feeling totally relaxed and care free. That night's sleep was the reward for all the fighting they did the night before. Robin got dressed in his usual attire and gelled his hair, smiling as he went. He Hadn't felt this good in ages, and couldn't wait to stuff his face with Cyborg's famous 'Titan Triple Treat' breakfast, consisting of bacon, sausages and eggs, (tofu for Beast Boy), pancakes smothered in maple syrup, and a small helping of waffles. His stomach rumbled so Robin left his room and started to make his way down to the Control Room. On the way, he bumped into Beast Boy.

"Hey dude! Is it me or do you feel fantastic!" Beast Boy smiled, stretching.

"Trust me, it isn't you!" Robin smiled. "A good nights sleep was bliss."

"Dude! I may have got a good nights sleep but it's still too early to be using complicated words!" Beast Boy moaned.

Robin was dumbfounded. "You mean 'bliss'?" he asked.

"Yeah dude." Beast Boy replied, making Robin laugh. He put his arm over the green changeling's shoulders and they walked together into the Control Room, where to their delight, they saw Cyborg wearing an apron, cooking up a delicious storm of breakfast delights for their pleasure. Beast Boy ran off towards the kitchen like he did every morning and moaned about breakfast taking too long to cook. Robin joined Starfire on the sofa, who was watching some documentary on algae on the TV.

"Hello friend Robin. I assume you are well rested after a nights worth of the z's!" Starfire smiled happily at her leader.

"I assume you got a good nights sleep too." he replied, grabbing the newspaper off the coffee table and reading an article on last evening's events…

'_Yesterday evening, someone infilitrated the security at Jump City's Security Prison, cleverly releasing it's captives, including the teenage troublemaker, Control Freak, and the terrifyingly evil, Slade. The citizens of Jump City began to worry in fear of attack, but the only attacking being done was by the teenage superhero team, Teen Titans, who as always fought bravely against a number of the worst villains, defeating them in the process and securing them back in a different prison, to prevent the same disaster repeating itself. However, the villain who entered the prison and released the prisoners managed to flee the scene, leaving no trace of evidence for the Titans to follow, so they are still at large.The prison warden had this to say...'_

Robin would have continued reading, but his desire to join Cyborg and Beast Boy at the table was overpowering. Himself and Starfire ran over to the table. Robin looked around and saw Beast Boy examining the tofu bacon pierced in his fork. Starfire was squirting mustard all over her plate and Cyborg was helping himself to an extra helping of maple syrup for his pancakes. But there was someone missing.

"Guys. Anyone seen Rae this morning?" he asked around, eyeing the full plate in front of Raven's empty chair.

"Nah man. She's probably asleep." Cyborg answered, which reminded Robin of his and Raven's previous conversation the night before.

"_Raven?" he shouted, gently shaking her. After a minute of shaking, she finally came around and saw Robin's concerned, masked face staring at her._

"_Raven! Are you okay?" he asked, helping her sit up. Raven moved her hand away from her head._

"_I guess I'm more tired than I thought." she groaned._

_Robin couldn't help but notice how drained she looked, even for Raven. Because she could only show a little emotion, she always looked a little down hearted but she had lost all colour in her originally pale face and she had bags under her eyes, plus the fact she couldn't even stand without the room spinning. "You're really pale." Robin said putting the back of his palm against her forehead. "You're burning up Rae. How long have you been sick?" he asked._

"_I haven't been feeling 100 lately. It started about two days ago." Raven explained as the Boy Wonder got up to fetch her a glass of water. "I'm just gonna get some fresh air and clear my head." She accepted the water that Robin held up to her and drunk it all. "Thanks."_

"Oh yeah. She collapsed yesterday after you went. I think she's sick. If she's still ill can you give her a once over." Robin announced, targeting Cyborg, he being the one who dealt with the teams injuries, including his own. Cyborg started to look concerned.

"No problem Robin." Cyborg said, getting back to his bacon, sausages and eggs.

Robin wasn't convinced that Raven was okay. After yesterday, he knew she'd probably sleep in, but he wanted to make sure she was fine. "I'm gonna go check on her. She looked awful yesterday. I'll take her her breakfast." he said standing up and grabbing Raven's plate.

He headed to the doors leading to the main stairs, but was instantly distracted by the opening of the front doors. He glanced over at the others, who were staring at the bright light that was shining through the doors. They dropped their knives and forks and walked towards the door. Cyborg charged up his sonic cannon and aimed it at the doors, prepared in case they were attacked. Starfire, Beast Boy and Robin stood behind him. Robin walked up beside Cyborg, bo-staff at the ready as they heard footsteps treading towards them. The person was staggering through the doors, obviously in pain. Robin lowered his weapon as the person came into view.

"Is that?.." Beast Boy began, squinting his emerald eyes in an attempt to make out who the mysterious figure was limping towards them.

"Raven?" Robin said confused, running forward, closely followed by the others.

Raven fell against the wall, her hand on her bruised arm and the other clutching her stomach. She attempted to walk forward but kept losing her balance. Her dark blue leotard was ripped, along with her cape, which revealed her bare flesh that was covered in blood and burns. She had used all her strength to make her way from the cold floor outside where she'd spent the night to the warmth of the Control Room, and couldn't hold on much longer. Her vision was blurry, but she instantly recognised Robin running towards her due to his brightly coloured uniform. In the distance she saw three other things coming towards her. She knew it was Beast Boy, Cyborg and Starfire, and felt a wave of relief flow through her scarred body.

"RAVEN?" Robin shouted, finally getting close to her.

"Rob…" Raven moaned. She felt the room spinning and finally gave in to her battle against consciousness. She collapsed to the floor, falling hard on her side and into another state of unconsciousness.

"RAVEN!"


	2. Confused And Concerned

**CHAPTER 2 - CONFUSED AND CONCERNED**

"Raven!"

Raven lay half unconscious on the sofa. She could hear a very distant voice calling out her name. She longed to just open her eyes and see who it was, for them to tell her that last night had been some horrible dream, but even the empath knew better than that, not to believe in dreams. 'Dreams just hold you back', she'd told Beast Boy one day. He replied, 'No, reality holds you back Raven.' Then again, Raven thought in her conscious part of mind. None of them really understood her still, even after the whole Trigon scenerio that went down a few months ago. When you had terrible nightmares about your father haunting you, you learnt to ignore dreams. The male voice was still calling her name, each time sounding more desperate.

"Raven!" it said again. As the soothing voice called her name, she felt her body gently shake. Obviously, someone was trying to wake her up. But Raven didn't want to awaken, for she knew the moment her violet eyes were revealed to whoever was there, she'd be filled with the pain from the battle with the mysterious stranger. 'Who was he?' Raven questioned her mind, hoping Knowledge would know. She didn't.

"RAVEN! PLEASE WAKE UP! RAVEN!"

Raven couldn't take it anymore and gave in to the voice and the shaking. Slowly, she opened her eyes. Being so weak, even a simple task like that took what seemed like minutes. Her vision was very blurry, but she could make out the green, red and yellow body kneeling beside her. She tried to move her head but groaned in pain.

"Raven? Raven? Can you hear me?" Robin asked, with a huge amount of concern in his voice. He grabbed Raven's scratched hand and gently squeezed it, hoping for a sign of life.

"Is she…" Beast Boy could be heard in the background.

"Please, is she awakening yet friend Robin?" Starfire added in.

Robin stared at her face, and gasped as he saw her pain stricken, violet eyes. He smiled and wiped a hair out of her face. He looked in detail at her, he wanted to cry. She was so batted and scared, her body covered in bruises and dried blood.

"Raven! Thank God." he said to her. Raven slowly and carefully moved her head to look Robin in the eyes, concealed behind his mask. Even that couldn't hide how he was feeling emotionally, as she witnessed a single tear roll down his cheek and fall onto her hand.

Beast Boy and Starfire stood behind her, leaning on the back of the sofa, also looking at the numerous cuts on her skin. Cyborg knelt down next to Robin.

"Are you okay Rae?" Cyborg asked, knowing the answer was blatant. Unable to talk, she let out a groan in response. Robin stroked her hair. "It's gonna be okay Raven. You're safe now. No one is gonna hurt you." he reassured her. Cyborg used his scanners to better assess the damage done to his 'little sister.'

"Beast Boy, Star, keep an eye on her for a moment." Cyborg said in a low tone, ushering Robin away from Raven and towards the windows.

"How is she?" Robin asked simply, knowing from the look of determination and despair on the his face that it was bad news. Not that it was a surprise…

"I dunno how she's still breathing man. She took it pretty hard last night." Robin's face dropped at the introduction to Cyborg's analysis. The half man/half robot continued. "Her arm is broken, as are a number of ribs. She's got a nasty head wound and electrical burns all down her body. That's not even the half of it man. She's lucky… very lucky!" Robin sighed and looked down in guilt.

"I should have been with her… she told me she'd be fine…" Robin was interrupted by Cyborg's voice.

"What? You knew she was outside?" Cyborg asked, wanting some sort of explanation.

"Last night, after you all went to bed, Raven collapsed. I stayed with her for a while until she could stand. I told her to get some rest, but she said she wanted some fresh air. I offered to go outside with her… she didn't look too good, but she said she'd be okay alone and that she'd go to bed soon." Robin reminisced. "Was she out there all night?" he asked.

"Judging by her body temperature, yes." Cyborg sighed looking at the statistics on his mechanical arm. "Poor thing."

"I'll make this up to her. It's my duty as leader to protect you guys. No one has ever got hurt this bad. In fact, Raven's always the one in the infirmary." Robin said, thinking back to the time when Beast Boy came into contact of dangerous chemicals and turned into a man beast. Late one night, they all heard Raven scream. The scream made Robin and the others ran towards her room and Beast Boy's. They were gone and searched the city. They found Raven unconscious in the man beast's teeth, clearly hurt. They fought the monster, then they found it was Beast Boy. Raven was in a trance for a few hours. Robin remembered the drips and the beeping, and Beast Boy turning evil again and attempting to kill Raven. Luckily, it was Adonis who kidnapped Raven, and she was okay, just had a bad shoulder.

"Hey man, we don't need protecting, and in the condition we were all in last night, you couldn't have prevented this. A leader doesn't bring himself down because of an accident, he helps the hurt learn from it and supports them. Raven is close to you, I think you should look after her, not over her." Cyborg advised, placing a comforting hand on Robin's shoulder. They smiled at each other and went back to where Raven was lying. She was groaning in pain.

"Raven? What is it?" Robin asked, panicking, kneeling down next to her sweaty head.

"My… urgh!" Raven clutched her stomach and winced forward. Robin caught her before she could fall off the sofa and smack onto the floor. Cyborg walked over and ripped a hole in Raven's already tattered leotard. She took a sharp in take of breath as he examined her overly bruised stomach. It was slightly swollen.

"Raven, who did this to you?" Cyborg asked. Raven, too weak to talk, painfully shrugged her shoulders, before going into another state of unconsciousness.

"I need to help her. Robin, carry her to the infirmary!" Cyborg ordered his worried leader and friend. "Star, BB, go outside and see if you can find evidence. We'll gonna be a while." he smiled through the concern. Beast Boy and Starfire looked at Raven's limp form on the sofa before nodding and running outside. Who knew what they would find.

Robin carefully picked up Raven, putting one gloved hand under her legs and one under her neck. As he lifted her weightless body of the sofa, she groaned. 'At least she's semi-conscious' Robin thought as he fast walked to the infirmary, talking to Raven every step of the way…

"I'm going to find out who did this to you Rae. I promise that they'll pay for hurting you. I should never have left you alone last night, I should have just helped you up to your room and left you to sleep. I'm sorry Raven."

"It… wasn't… your… fault."

Robin stopped suddenly at looked down at Raven. She was still out cold. She was communicating telepathically with him, laying off the guilt. Robin continued and lay her down on the infirmary bed, listening to her let out a painful groan as her bruised back touched the hard mattress beneath her. Cyborg arrived and hooked Raven up to some machines to monitor her heart rate, blood pressure and body temperature. He removed her cape and covered her in a warm blanket, which she much needed after her night out in the cold. Cyborg studied her statistics before glancing over at Robin. He was just staring at her, wishing she would awaken.

"Like I said man, don't feel guilty. Accidents happen." Cyborg said.

"This was no accident. Someone must be after her… like… last time." Robin replied, returning his glance back to Raven. Cyborg averted his eyes back to the computer screen. But he couldn't help but remember back to when Trigon destroyed Raven. He sighed before standing up and walking towards Robin and Raven.

"I need to do an internal examination and sort these injuries out. I think you should go and relax." Cyborg suggested, even though Robin knew it was advise, and he knew he should take it.

"But…" Robin started, stopped by Cyborg's hand.

"She'll be fine. I'll alert you if anything changes. Go and have a drink or something and wait for Star and BB." Cyborg smiled, putting a hand on his shoulder and guiding him out of the room.

"Here we go…"

* * *

"Woah!"

Beast Boy and Starfire stood outside Titans Tower, completely taken aback by the sight they saw. Pieces of Raven's blue cape and leotard were dispersed on the ground around them. On the tower walls were dried blood stains. The dirt and gravel was disturbed, showing signs of a fight. Starfire flew around collecting the torn scraps of cape while Beast Boy examined the blood before contacting Robin via communicator.

"Robin here."

"It's BB. We're outside and there was definitely a fight out here. There's blood on the walls and everything!" Beast Boy informed an anxious Robin.

"Where are you? I'll be right there!" Robin said, running towards the garage and his R-Cycle.

"Open the front door and you'll see us. It all happened right here at home." Beast Boy said closing the communicator. Robin appeared through the doors. Beast Boy called him over. Robin took one look at the blood, then saw Starfire picking up the torn pieces of Raven's attire.

"When she wakes up, we're gonna talk to her and found out what happened. I just wanna know who done this." Robin said.

"Friend Robin!" Starfire gasped, suddenly noticing his presence. "How is friend Raven?" she asked.

"She'll be alright eventually. Cyborg's examining her as we speak. I think she'll be in shock and won't be able to fight for a while, but we'll have to make do." he replied.

"Dude. Raven is strong, you know that and we all know that so when she's better she'll be racing ahead of us seeking revenge on who it was who put her in the infirmary." Beast Boy said. This however brought back disturbing memories about Raven. Back during their first encounter with Dr. Light when she lost her temper and got angry. She almost killed him. Raven lost her temper a lot, it was her weakness as a Titan, hence why Terra defeated her back when she was the apprentice of Slade. Robin didn't want her losing her temper over this.

"She may act strong Beast Boy, but inside she's insecure. You know what she's like, she doesn't show how she feels. For all we know she'll carry on fighting and could be in pain or something." Robin said looking down. They all know that Raven is very secretive and unemotional, and this was another weakness of hers. You never know whether what she says is how she really feels. Sometimes Robin wished she would open up to him. They had a bond, and ever since that day, he and Raven had become closer as friends. He hated seeing her like she usually was. But in his eyes, she was satisfied with herself, being hidden. It was how she was brought up and how she'd grown to live, and the others, as her friends, had learnt to accept her for who she was.

"Friend Raven will be fine. And when she awakens from her examination, we will fill her with the questions and capture the evil who assaulted her." Starfire smiled, as always.

"I know Star, I know." Robin answered, smiling at Starfire in return, although inside he was screaming 'I must search for the villain!'. The smile was wiped off his face when he heard his communicator beep. He opened it, looking at Cyborg.

"What's up?" Robin answered anxiously.

"Don't suppose you've spoken to the others yet have you?" Cyborg asked.

"I'm with them now. Why? What's wrong?" Robin said concerned. By then, Beast Boy and Starfire were standing next to him, wondering what Cyborg was going on about.

"I need to talk to you now Robin. Tell BB and Star to look for a syringe. I'll explain to them later." Cyborg said seriously. Robin was wondering about the syringe? Had the villain injected her? All these thoughts span through his head. When he came back to reality, he gave orders for his friends to search for a syringe, then ran back inside towards the infirmary, where Cyborg was waiting for him.


	3. Injections And Illness

**CHAPTER 3 - INJECTIONS AND ILLNESS**

Robin reached the infirmary doors and slid them open, wondering what Cyborg needed so desperately, and what was going on with Raven.

"Cyborg? What's going on?" Robin asked desperately, running over to Raven's bed and looking her over. She looked the same as she had 10 minutes ago, when he'd left her, except now she had bandages wrapped round parts of her body. Robin couldn't believe how someone could inflict so much pain on one person. They didn't even get injuries this bad when fighting Slade. 'Slade? Maybe he did this to her?' Robin thought. 'But he has no motive now that Trigon was done with him?' Robin's Slade theory was put on hold when he realised that Cyborg had come over to him and Raven.

"Robin, I found puncture wounds on her arms. I think she was drugged." Cyborg explained simply, pointing to the small wounds on her arm. "They are definitely from needles." Cyborg continued.

Robin immediately took his communicator from his utility belt and contacted Beast Boy and Starfire, hoping they had found the syringe.

"We have had no luck in locating the syringe in which you require. I am sorry friend Robin." Starfire said sadly, hanging down her head in a guiltily manner.

"Ok then. Well, you and Beast Boy search the city. See if anyone saw anything or anyone coming near the tower." Robin ordered, a little annoyed that a syringe wasn't located at the scene. (Usually he would have been relieved if needles weren't at the scene, but this time it could help Raven get better.)

"What about Raven?" Beast Boy appeared on the screen.

"Cyborg and I will look after her. We need to find out who done this so leave no stone unturned." Robin said, logging off the communicator and turning to face Cyborg, who was wrapping more bandages around Raven's hand.

"Are you sure they're needle wounds? How could a needle do all this damage?" Robin questioned.

"Well, that's the thing man, I'm not entirely sure myself. Maybe whoever did this drugged her first to make her weak, then attacked her. I mean, even if she was tired, Raven wouldn't have taken a beating like this without fighting back." Cyborg said. Robin looked at Raven's arm again, realising that there was more than one needle mark. He needed to investigate.

"Um, Cyborg. I'm gonna go and search her room, just to see if there's any clues in there." Robin said. Cyborg nodded and watched Robin run out of the infirmary. He continued to treat Raven's wounds. Suddenly, the beeping from the heart monitor picked up pace. Cyborg stared at Raven's face, watching her open her eyes. She glanced around the room, noticing the wires that were attached to her weak figure, the quiet beeping of the machines next to her, a certain 'big brother' and friend looking at her with utmost concern and a small smile on his face.

"Raven?" Cyborg asked quietly. She turned her head and properly faced him.

"Where am I?" she asked weakly, attempting to sit up, but was gently pushed back down by Cyborg's mechanic hands.

"Don't move, we still don't know how serious it is?" He said lying her back against the pillow.

"Where am I?" Raven asked again, having no memory whatsoever of the past events of that morning.

"The infirmary." Cyborg answered, knowing what Raven's next question would be.

"What happened?" She weakly asked next. Cyborg looked at her closely. He could see the pain and confusion in her bruised amethyst eyes.

"You were attacked Raven. You stumbled into the tower this morning and collapsed. You've been here for about an hour." Cyborg said, looking down at the floor.

"So that's why everything hurts." She moaned, once again attempting to move. Cyborg pushed her down again before getting her some pain relief. "Don't you remember anything?" Cyborg asked, giving Raven some pills to take. Raven swallowed the medicine and tried to recall what Cyborg had told her. She remembered being tired, bright yellow eyes and darkness. But, she couldn't remember entering the tower, or collapsing on the sofa. "No." she simply replied. "I remember 2 bright yellow eyes, but that's all. I don't remember anything." Raven looked away from Cyborg. He noticed a small tear escape her eye. She wanted nothing more to put her hood up and to hide her emotions from him, but she realised that her cloak had been removed. Cyborg put his hand upon hers and squeezed it, being careful not to hurt her.

"It's gonna be okay Rae." He smiled. She let out a small smile back before closing her eyes. Cyborg remembered about the needle marks and called her name before she fell back asleep.

"I know you said you can't remember much, but do you remember anything about a syringe?" he asked. Raven quickly turned her head and lost eye contact with him. The quick motion hurt her head and she winced. Cyborg could tell she was hiding something… but what? He didn't have time to ask her, as she fell back asleep.

* * *

Robin was in Raven's room, searching frantically for anything that would help make last night's attack make sense. Who and why were his main questions. He had already looked in the bathroom and had discovered nothing but some bath products and other girlish things that he'd never imagine Raven owning. Robin mentally kicked himself at that, remembering that just because she was a dark girl didn't make her any less of a girl than Starfire. After that he searched her wardrobe and found nothing more than 10 matching outfits, all dark blue robes and leotards, some belts, pyjamas and some everyday clothing. He searched her draws and bookshelves but his efforts were futile.

"I hope Beast Boy and Starfire are having more luck than I am." he said aloud, sitting down on Raven's bed. Where his hand was, on her pillow, he felt something. Robin lifted up her pillow and gasped at what he saw. There, just lying under the sorceress's pillow was a syringe. Robin slowly picked it up and examined it. It was filled with a light green coloured liquid, nothing Robin recognised.

"Why is Raven injecting herself?" he asked the air, his grip tightening on the syringe in his hand, which caused some of the liquid to squirt out.

Robin got off the bed and ran back to the infirmary, an angry look on his face.

* * *

Starfire landed in the park and looked around for any sign of her green friend. In the sky, she saw a green hawk fly down towards her. Beast Boy turned back to human form and shook his head.

"So, we have searched the prison of evil villains, asked the guard of the coasts and wondered the streets of homosapians and mechanical driving vehicles, yet we still have nothing." Starfire sighed.

"Yea…. whatever." Beast Boy said, trying not to laugh at Starfire's pitiful attempts to say prison, coastguard and streets. "The attack on Raven happened at night. How does Robin expect us to find anyone who saw it all, other than the dude himself?"

"Robin wouldn't have sent us to search if there was no need. But sadly I agree with you friend Beast Boy, we cannot find anything. Let us go back to the tower and inform the others of our hopeless efforts." Starfire said, going airborne and heading back in the direction of their home. Beast Boy transformed into a hawk again and flew after her.

'I wonder what Robin's gonna say when we get back?' Beast Boy said mentally.

* * *

"RAVEN!"

Robin ran through the doors, startling Cyborg and walked over to her. "What the hell is wrong with you!" he shouted.

"Hey! What the hell is wrong with you man? Rae's asleep. What are you so angry about?" Cyborg said, walking over to where Robin was standing.

"Raven's being injecting herself! I found this under her pillow. I want answers so wake her up!" he shouted again, handing Cyborg the syringe. Cyborg looked at it.

"Man, I'm not disturbing her, especially when she's like this and you're like this." he stated, pointing from a sleeping Raven to the boy he was trying to reason with. "Just because she has a syringe doesn't mean anything. What the hell are you thinking anyway Robin? That Raven's doing drugs or something?" Cyborg shouted, trying ever so hard to keep his voice quiet.

Robin stared at Cyborg's stern face. What was a syringe doing in her room? Why did she have it? Robin hadn't thought about what or why. In fact, he hadn't even thought about anything, just the initial reaction that she was either sick or doing drugs. Raven was the last person to do drugs, good or bad. If she was ill she'd just heal herself in seconds. What was he thinking just running in there and shouting like he did. He looked up at Cyborg guiltily.

"I'm sorry Cy, I never thought…"

"Hey man, don't worry. I know you care about Raven."

Before Robin had a chance to talk again, they both heard a groan coming from the bed. Raven opened her eyes. The boys walked over to her.

"Hey Rae. How you feeling?" Robin asked, putting the little misunderstanding behind him.

"Not good." she moaned. "Everything just aches."

"Why don't you just heal yourself?" Robin enquired the empath. "You have done before?" Raven just broke the eye contact with him and looked away, a tear slowly forming in her eye. Robin grabbed her hand and stroked it with his finger. "It's gonna be okay Raven. Nothing's gonna hurt you anymore." Raven smiled while still trying to maintain her emotionless expression that the others were so used to seeing. "Thank you Robin."

"Raven… why have you been injecting yourself?"

"WHAT!"

Everyone, except Raven who couldn't move, turned to see Beast Boy and Starfire standing in the doorway. Beast Boy was the one who had shouted.

"Dude! Did you just say Raven's been injecting herself?" Beast Boy asked again in a rather loud voice. Raven sighed and turned her head.

"Yes, I have… but for good reasons!" Raven moaned, obviously not wanting to discuss the matter.

"Please friend Raven, why have you been inflicting the pointiness of the needles on yourself? Are you sick?" Starfire asked, flying over to Raven's bed. Beast Boy and Cyborg also closed in on Raven, and Robin sat on the edge on her bed.

"I haven't been able to meditate lately, so I've been injecting myself to help keep my emotions under control." Raven answered, turning her head to escape all the eyes which were laid on her, which was easier said than done when they were all around her. Robin squeezed her hand like he was thanking her for telling them. But the question still rested on his mind…

"Why haven't you been able to meditate?" Beast Boy asked.

"I haven't been feeling well." Raven replied, getting a little agitated at all the questions.

"Why?" Beast Boy asked.

"LOOK OK! It's just a stomach bug and insomnia! Because I've been ill I haven't been able to meditate! I take the injections to stop me losing control! I'm up all night worrying and trying to meditate anyway! That's why I've been having insomnia ok! Robin, that's why I collapsed yesterday evening! That's why my fighting's being sloppy! That's why I can't heal myself and why i'm lying here! OK NOW ARE YOU ALL HAPPY!" she shouted in the loudest voice she could in her condition.

Everyone looked at one another in shock. Raven never lost her temper like that. Robin looked at Cyborg.

"Come on guys." Cyborg said, implying to Beast Boy and Starfire. "Raven needs to rest." They all left the infirmary with different emotions, leaving Raven and a very concerned Robin.

"Raven…"

"Please. Don't. I'm sorry." Raven said, tears forming in her eyes again. Robin once again squeezed her hand.

"Why didn't you tell me you weren't well?" Robin asked, looking rather upset that he hadn't noticed before.

"Because it was nothing to be concerned about." she replied. Robin put his fingers under her chin and turned her head towards his so they were facing each other. He noticed all the cuts and bruises on her face. He saw the sorrow in her eyes, and a little anger.

"Raven, you're one of my best friends. I have to be concerned for you." Robin said, looking her straight in eye.

"Robin, I'm tired so please… I'd like to be alone." Raven whispered, turning her head away.

"We're not leaving you alone. You're still in a bad condition, we only found you a few hours ago. So, one of us will always be here to keep an eye on you." he replied.

"It's not necessary Robin." she said, much to Robin's disappointment.

"Raven, you were brutally attacked and left for dead outside all night! How is that not necessary?" Robin said, watching the tears fall from her eyes. He decided it was then he should leave her alone. "Cyborg will be here with you, but please get some rest and get better." he said, leaning forward to put a hand on her shoulder before leaving the room.

"Robin?" Raven said, grabbing Robin's attention when he reached the door. He turned his head to face her. "Yes?"

"Who did this to me?" she asked in a innocent voice. Robin looked at the floor.

"I don't know… but they'll pay." he replied. He looked again at Raven, but she had fallen asleep. He walked back over to her bed and kissed her forehead.

"I promise Raven."

Robin left the infirmary and headed towards the Control Room, where the others were waiting for him. He walked through the doors and saw the scene just as he'd seen it a few hours back… there were blood droplets on the sofa where Raven had been lying. There was the smashed plate and breakfast on the floor that he'd dropped. He saw Cyborg, Starfire and Beast Boy sitting at the table.

"How is she?" Cyborg asked, seeing Robin head over towards them.

"Sleeping." he replied. "I need you to keep an eye on her. I don't want her being left alone." Cyborg nodded in agreement and got up, walking towards the door. He stopped beside Robin and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"We're going to find out who did this to her, and she's gonna pull through and be back on her feet soon." he said comfortingly but still in a serious tone. He then left for the infirmary.

Robin stood there thinking. "Why didn't I just go outside with her?" he whispered to himself.

* * *

Well that was chapter 3! I can't believe it's finally done. If you think the story is over then you're wrong... so i'll try and update soon. Thanks for reading xx 


	4. Visions And Visitors

**CHAPTER 4 - VISIONS AND VISITORS **

It had now been 2 days since Raven had been attacked and she was slowly recovering. She still had a few bruises and wounds which Cyborg felt would heal in a week or 2, and her chest ached badly from the electrical abuse it had suffered. That would take longer to heal. The routine had been the same everyday, Robin would watch over Raven as she mainly slept, catching up on all the lost sleep she'd suffered thanks to her insomnia. If he wasn't doing that he was either training or trying to find out who her attacker was. Cyborg would visit her a lot to check her stats and energy levels, all of which were rising. Then he'd leave her with Robin and he'd prepare breakfast and play video games with Beast Boy. Beast Boy went to see Raven occasionally, but she was usually sleeping and Robin would be there anyway, so he didn't see much point… he couldn't make her laugh if she was asleep. Starfire was usually found in the kitchen, preparing some sort of inedible concoction from her home planet. It broke Starfire's heart when she'd bring it up to Raven and Robin had to explain that she couldn't handle any solid food right down because of the extent of her injuries there. However, her heart mended when she would just eat the food herself. All in all, everyone was happy…

"Robin! I hate it in here. Please can I go to my room?"

Robin was, as always, sitting next to Raven. She was still surrounded by drips and wires, but less than before. She wanted nothing more than to leave the infirmary and sit in the secluded darkness of her room. Ever since the attack, Robin and Cyborg had forbid her from going anywhere, scared that she would inflict more harm on herself. Cyborg was firm but caring when he said to her that until her stomach was properly healed, she wasn't going anywhere. Besides, she was still weak.

Robin smiled at her pleading face, which still had it's emotionless expression plastered onto it. He was rather impressed by how she did that. Everyday he'd been there and she always asked the same questions. Can I go? How much longer to I have to spend in here? Is my stomach healed? She knew the answer to that one because every time she tried to move, she winced in pain. Luckily, Robin was always there to help her. She hated being so helpless and dependant, but she enjoyed his company and vica verca.

"I told you, not until you're better." Robin smiled, answering Raven's question.

"Robin… I've been in here for almost 3 days now!" Raven argued back.

"And is your stomach better?" he asked quizzically.

"Yes it's fine….Oooow!" Raven had tried to sit up to show Robin she was fine, but the slight movement had caused her pain. Robin quickly stood up and pushed her back down.

"Yeah… u seem fine to me!" Robin said sarcastically. "You're not leaving here Raven, that's an order."

Raven sighed heavily and stared at the ceiling. She was going insane.

"Do you remember anything about the attacker yet?" Robin said, striking up conversation.

"No. If I did I'd tell you straight away… I want to get him as much as you do." Raven said, trying to think back to the incident. "But I remember something." Raven caught Robin's attention. "He said I should know him, and he knew my name."

"So it was a personal attack. Do you know anyone who has a grudge against you?" Robin asked, taking her information into account.

"Ummm, let me think. Every single villain we've ever faced possibly!" she said very sarcastically and monotonically. Afterwards she yawned.

"Very funny. You look tried. Why don't you get some rest." Robin said, noticing how her eyes were closing and opening.

"Bye Robin." she said, as she fell into a slumber. Robin smiled, checked her stats and left the infirmary, happy with the new information and her progress.

* * *

The evening was going quickly for the team. They had ordered in pizza when they'd found out that Starfire offered to cook them all 'the pudding of friendship', or as Beast Boy preferred to call it, 'the death of them all.' They had eaten the pizza in record time and were now all doing their own things. Starfire thought she'd cook 'the pudding of friendship' anyway, hoping it would be a surprise, although the putrid smell of gravy, salmon and cream cheese mixed together which wafted through the kitchen to the living area of the room where Beast Boy and Cyborg was enough of a giveaway. The 2 boys were competing over a racing game on the Gamestation. As usual, Cyborg was winning and Beast Boy was accusing him of cheating. Robin however was at the main computer, searching the database of villains for any that held certain grudges against Raven. The search was a bit of a dud. There was Malchior, who was locked in a book in her room, Kardiak, who hadn't been seen since that fight in the park, Trigon, who thank the Lord Raven had destroyed a while back. Robin sighed and continued to search.

"Friends Cyborg and Beast Boy! I have completed the pudding of friendship! Do you require a taste?" Starfire asked excitedly, flying over to them with a huge bowl filled with a bubbling, brown and blue what could only be described as gloop. They both started turning green… well in Beast Boy's case, greener. They got up and ran out of the room. Starfire flew over to Robin.

"Friend Robin? When I went to offer my friends the pudding of friendship, they vacated the room at a fast pace with the colour of green faces. Why did they leave?"

Robin tried hard not the laugh at the alien's naivety. "They probably went to see Raven." he lied. Starfire smiled.

"It is getting rather late friend Robin so I will be in my room, preparing for the night of the snoozing." Starfire informed her leader. Robin said goodnight and she flew out of the Control Room towards her pink sanctum. Robin gazed up at the clock. It was 10 o'clock. He yawned and decided to call it a night. As he turned off the computer, Cyborg and Beast Boy returned, their normal colour back in their cheeks. He laughed and made his way out of the room.

"I'm going to bed. Don't stay up too late." Robin informed them. Beast Boy grabbed his Gamestation controller and loaded up the game.

"Don't worry dude. It won't take me that long to whoop this tin cans ass!" Beast Boy laughed, pointing at a relaxed Cyborg.

"Man you ain't whooped my ass in months!" Cyborg replied, starting the game. Before Robin could speak, they were too involved in the game to listen, so he left them to their fun.

He walked through the corridors to his room, passing the infirmary on the way there. As he walked by, he saw Raven in the bed, tossing and turning. He walked in to check on her. She seemed unsettled in her sleep so he increased her fluid levels. She calmed down and lay peacefully. Robin pushed a stray hair out of her face and kissed her cheek.

"Sweet dreams Raven."

* * *

_Raven was running down an endless corridor. With every step she took she felt weaker and weaker. She leaned against the walls as she felt sharp, shooting pains up and down her body. She fell to the floor and gasped for breath. As she saw darkness surround her, she heard a voice._

"_Raven?" _

_The voice sounded familiar to her and it gave her the strength to open her eyes._

"_I'm back Raven." _

_Raven looked at the person holding her…_

"_You!" she gasped, feeling all the breath leave her chest. She felt weak._

"_Yes, it's me. And this time, I'm gonna make sure you stay down!"_

"_No! Leave me alone."_

_The bright, yellow eyes of the mysterious person bore into her, scaring her. She let out a long scream and tried to get up, but she was to weak to move._

"_No! No!" she screamed as he came closer._

"Noooooooo!"

Raven awoke with a start from her nightmare, breathing heavily as she got over the shock. She'd never been so scared like that since Trigon returned. Her forehead was dripping with cold sweat. Raven had to get to someone. She knew something was wrong, that something bad was going to happen. She unplugged all the wires attached to her body and winced as she leaned up on her elbows, her stomach muscles telling her to take it easy. Raven slowly got off the bed, her knees wanting to buckle after not walking for nearly 3 days. She walked weakly out of the infirmary and headed down the corridor.

With every step she took, she felt weaker and weaker. She knew she couldn't go another step without support, so she leant against the walls, dragging her exhausted body along them to get to one of her friends. Suddenly, she felt sharp, shooting pains flow through her body and she moaned in pain and knew that she couldn't go any further. She collapsed to the ground and lay there, totally helpless but conscious. It then that she realised that what was happening now was exactly what had happened in her dream. She felt weaker and weaker, until she heard a voice calling her name.

"Raven?"

Raven didn't want to open her eyes, because if she did then she knew who'd be there holding her.

"Raven! Answer me! Are you okay?"

Raven opened her eyes and saw a blurry outline of yellow. She burst out screaming and tried to escape from her attacker.

"Raven! It's me! What's wrong?" the boy pleaded.

Raven continued to scream and scream. The boy pulled her into an embrace. Raven screamed and started to cry into the boy's chest.

"Raven? What happened to you? Why are you out here?"

Raven looked up at the boy holding her, and saw it was Robin. She lay there with her head on his thighs. He looked at her shaking body and the sweat on her forehead. He looked away from her when he heard footsteps rushing towards them. He saw Cyborg, Starfire and Beast Boy running over, with looks of concern plastered on their faces.

"What happened to her?" Cyborg said, kneeling down beside her to check her over.

"I dunno! I heard a thump so I went to investigate and I found her here. I went to help her and she screamed!" Robin said in a panicky voice, hoping Raven was ok.

"Why was friend Raven out of her bed?" Starfire asked, tears forming in her eyes at the sight of her friend. Beast Boy comforted her, with his eyes fixed on Raven with concern.

"I dunno. Something must've happened." Robin replied, stroking Raven's hair trying to calm her down.

"Ro…bin." Raven sobbed.

The team all stared at Raven as she slowly sat up, wincing because of her stomach. Robin helped her and she leaned against the wall, gasping for breath.

"He's… com…ing…back!" Raven moaned, clutching her chest. Cyborg ran to get her an oxygen mask to steady her breathing.

"Who?" Robin asked desperately, wanting to put her out of the torment she was suffering.

"The… attacker." she moaned, each breath more painful than the last. Cyborg appeared with the oxygen mask and put it round Raven's mouth and nose. Robin held her steady while she took deep, soothing breaths. Everyone knelt down beside her, watching for her to relax.

"What? How do you know?" Robin waited to ask her. She removed the mask, now looking a little better.

"I… had… a … vision." Raven breathed.

They all gasped and Robin held Raven close. Cyborg looked her over again.

"She's very weak y'all. Let's get her back to the infirmary." Cyborg ordered. Robin lifted Raven up bridal style and started to carry her back to her bed.

"Don't worry Raven. We won't let him get…"

Robin was cut off by the sound of breaking glass. He looked around at the team, they were all there. Without word, they all ran towards the sound of the glass, which was in the control room, Robin still carrying Raven who looked unsettled. They opened the doors and saw a man standing there.

"Titans! Go!" Robin shouted at Cyborg, Beast Boy and Starfire.

"WAIT!" Raven shouted through the mask. They all stopped running towards the man. He looked at Raven, as did the rest of the team. Raven lowered the mask and stared at the man.

"Laon?"

* * *

Woo chapter 4 is done. Who's Laon? How does he know Raven? Find out soon when I update. Thanks for reading xx 


	5. Anxiety And Answers

**CHAPTER 5 - ANXIETY AND ANSWERS**

Raven stared that the youngish man standing in front of her as she relaxed in Robin's arms, happy that it was him and not the man who attacked her previously. The Titans switched their glances amongst the stranger who had smashed the window and their gothic team mate and friend. Confusion overwhelmed them as they checked out the man. His attire was similar to Raven's, with a black cloak instead of deep blue. Underneath he wore a white shirt and dark blue trousers. He was holding a sword which was threateningly pointed at them all. Laon lowered his weapon when he saw Raven.

"Laon?"

"Raven." he asked with concern. He walked closer to Raven and Robin. Robin felt Raven tense up and immediately backed away, still holding her.

"We won't let you hurt her more than you have!" Robin shouted at Laon, who stopped in his steps, and turned around, only to be welcomed by a load of weapons facing him. Laon laughed which aggravated them even more.

"He isn't the one who hurt me." Raven said as she got out of Robin's comforting grasp and took slow steps closer to Laon. Everyone watched with anxiety at the empathy's actions. Wobbling as she walked, she finally came face to face with the man. "Not today anyway." she whispered to him. Laon grabbed her shoulders, a little to hard in fact, and Raven grunted in pain. Her friends gasped and started on Laon, who held up his sword indicating that they should stop.

"Do you want my help or not?" he asked them, his question mainly targeting Raven. She looked up at him, her violet eyes trying to locate any lies and or truths hidden in him. She knew Laon very well, but she still had doubts about him, his persona, his… loyalty. Raven sighed. The Titans all stood with confused facial expressions. Help with what? Who was this man? Why was he here? Robin was getting more angry and anxious as the silence continued, until a soft voice broke it.

"How did you know?" Robin heard Raven ask. Laon still had his hands tightly clasped on Raven's shoulders, and through their bond, he could tell she was uncomfortable and in a little pain. Raven was hiding it all very impressively as she awaited an answer. "Let's just say, Raven, that your visions are my visions. Something most Azarathians have the gift of." And with that he let of her shoulders and she winced. Cyborg came forward as Laon walked towards the window. The others all just looked alternatively between the two.

"I'm fine." Raven replied when Cyborg asked how she was. She knew the team, mainly Robin, would have loads more questions in store for her, some that she would rather not answer. Robin started to advance on Raven with concern and, as she'd expected, anger at not knowing who this complete stranger was and how he was related to her, but before he could even open his mouth, someone else did.

"DUCK!"

Without hesitation, Laon came running away from the window and pushed Raven to floor. With a crash, he landed on her, attempting to protect her from the danger coming their way. A second later, everyone was on the floor, arms covering their heads as all the windows smashed, spreading a plague of glass shards towards them, covering them in small treatable cuts. They looked up and laid angered, or in Raven's case, frightened eyes on the attacker. Unfortunately, it was the man who had caused Raven her suffering days ago. The man had long, silver hair which was elegantly tied back into a high ponytail, but strands had been forced out of place. He wore a black cape, one which resembled Robin's, with a yellow pattern going around the edge. Underneath that, a matching yellow and black top was resting against his athletic torso. And on the bottom were a pair of baggy trousers, patterned with blood spatter stains, most of which was Raven's blood. Obviously the man hadn't changed since his victory over her. But, his most striking feature was his eyes, eyes that glowed bright yellow, just as Raven had described them. His rose lips curved into a smile.

"Hello Raven. I'm back."

The villain advanced on Raven. Her breathing quickened as she backed away and leant against the wall. Cyborg, Beast Boy, Starfire and Robin got up and made a human barrier around her, and Laon stood next to the empath, sword at the ready.

"And this time, I'm gonna make sure you stay down!"

"TITANS! GO!"

Robin gave the command, giving Starfire permission to fire up her starbolts and jet off the ground and fly overhead towards the villain. Beast Boy immediately transformed into a panther and ran towards him, and Cyborg charged up his sonic cannon and took aim, firing a blue beam at the mysterious man, which he dodged with too much ease. All the while, Robin had turned to Raven and Laon.

"Stay here." He ordered Raven, although she didn't look like she was in any hurry to fight her attacker. Then, his full attention was on Laon, this newly greeted man who Raven called a friend and who he called a stranger. Robin eyed him up and down, his focus mainly on the sword.

"Are you just gonna stand there or are we gonna do this?" Laon asked the leader impatiently, getting a little bored of being stared at. Robin glanced round at his team. Starfire had just barely dodged a yellow beam, Cyborg was aiming his cannon, and missing every time as the villain moved at a fast pace, and Beast Boy wasn't doing much damage, no matter whatever animal he had just turned into in the past minute. Robin drew his attention back to Laon. As much as he didn't want to…

"Let's go!"

Laon didn't need telling twice and he ran, sword up high, towards the villain, just in time to see a green leopard fly overheard and slam into the sofa.

"Not this time." Laon shouted, sending his sword down on the villain, the impact causing him to cry out as he flew backwards into the wall, leaving behind a huge dent as he rubbed his head and glared Laon, who merely smirked before preparing to attack again. He swung his sword again, and saw blood come from a cut. Not a cut on the villain, but on himself. The evil one had stabbed him before Laon could even touch him with his sword. Everyone watched in awe as Laon stood up, pulled out the knife stuck in him and tossed it out the broken window. The Titans turned towards Raven, seeing as they were friends, and they expected her to be worried. To their surprise, she was just sitting there emotionless. Leon healed himself, like Raven would have, and started up again, not prepared to lose.

Cyborg and Beast Boy joined in this time. Cyborg launched a load of sonic power at the villain, knocking him off his feet, followed by Beast Boy throwing himself in the form of a tiger and clawing him. The two team-mates smiled at each other as Robin grabbed his bo-staff and began whacking the hell out of the man, who swore with each hit before sending a skull crushing blow to Robin's head. Robin lay unconscious on the floor. Beast Boy transformed into a bird and picked him up with his talons, transporting his leader over to where Raven was lying, watching with fear and a little jealously at not being able to help. Beast Boy set Robin down next to her.

"Look after him, yeah?" Beast Boy smiled, turning into a kangaroo and hopping back into the fight. Raven looked Robin and saw blood coming from his head. She instantly went to heal it, but was let down by the fact that her powers weren't to full strength. Just then, Laon, having been hit with an electrical beam, came crashing down next to the two birds. Laon healed himself then looked at the unconscious form of Robin, and Raven's desperation to help him.

"Allow me." Laon said as a orange version of Raven's healing powers lit up against Robin's head. Surely enough, the Boy Wonder awoke to see the two faces, both of whom were smiling.

"Thanks." Robin said, starting to trust Laon a little more. Laon held out a hand and pulled Robin up off the floor. He dusted himself off and watched Cyborg be punched on the human side of his half electronic face and stumble back. Starfire caught him and let her eye beams run rapid on the villain, who was slowly weakening. Half of them hit, but because of Starfire's fury, half of them also missed, making holes in the sides of the tower. Robin turned back around when he heard a small scream coming from behind him. Laon was kneeling next to Raven, who looked rather terrified. Robin dropped to the floor next to her.

"What's wrong!" he asked instantly. Laon looked at Raven, his hand was placed on her shoulder and her eyes were downcast. Robin could see tears brimming her fatigue affected eyelids.

"It's her stomach. Isn't it Raven?" Laon answered, seeing as Raven wasn't prepared to. Robin stared at Raven, taking in every detail of her current appearance. She hesitated as she answered him.

"Yes, it was. But don't worry. It's fine now." she replied in her usual monotone. Laon removed his hand, and Robin could have sworn he'd heard her breathe a sigh of relief.

"Laon. Can you heal her?" Robin asked.

"I said I'm fine." Raven defended herself, glaring at Robin in a way she wouldn't have with any villain. This scared him at bit, but he held his all and carried on with his conversation, as of she was invisible.

"Well?" he continued, his attention focused on Laon, but his mind focused on his bond with Raven. In his head, she was saying 'no' over and over.

"Certainly." Laon answered simply, reaching towards Raven's bruised stomach. She backed away instantly.

"Robin. I said I'm fine. Now go and fight because the other's aren't looking too good out there."

Taking Raven's advise, he sped off towards the villain, who's black cape was flapping with the night wind in victory. Beast Boy was lying near the television, trying to get up. Starfire was leaning against the kitchen surface, using it for support as she clutched her arm. Cyborg was against a wall, his circuitry a dull grey colour instead of it's usual light blue, unmoving. The villain looked at Raven, sitting in the corner. His eyes burned into her as he walked closer and closer, forgetting that Robin and Laon were still standing and ready for the fight.

"See Raven. I told you I'd be back." Said the voice, just as hoarse as the night two days ago when they'd first encountered each other. His eyes glowed yellow once again, and he prepared to fire at the defenceless and powerless bird.

"LEAVE. HER. ALONE."

Robin threw three freezing disks at the villain at the speed of light. His hand was trapped in a layer of ice. Laon came up next, his sword at the ready, as he drew the evil one's attention away from Raven and more towards him. Laon ran into the centre of the smashed up control room as they went head to head. Robin ran towards Raven.

"Let's get you out of here." he said in a serious and concerned tone as he picked up Raven's light body and ran out of the control room. He ran down the corridors, past loads of doors until he reached his own bedroom. He entered the access code and went inside, placing Raven down on the bed.

"I'll be back." He whispered to her, flashing her a small smile which promised her security. A second later, he made his way back to fight, seeing exactly the sight he was praying he wouldn't. Laon was lying on the floor, sword a few metres away. His arm was stretched to it's limits as he attempted to reach his weapon, and his eyes were fixated on the man in yellow and black who was standing over him, about to strike. Robin sprinted, jumped, and kicked the villain in the side, sending him and his power in another direction. The villain landed on the floor, and before he could get up, Cyborg, Starfire and Beast Boy had all launched their attacks. There was an explosion, and they all waited anxiously for the smoke to clear. The last of it disappeared… and so had the villain, leaving behind a scrap of his torn cape which had snagged on the broken window, which he'd jumped out of.

"Dude! Where'd he go?" Beast Boy asked anyone who was listening.

"Out the window! Man I thought we'd got him." Cyborg groaned, slapping his hand to his forehead.

"We must pursue this villain at once and capture him! He is strong. Now I see why friend Raven had such a tough time in the battle."

Robin thought about what Starfire had just said whilst walking up to Laon, who was lying unconscious in the middle of the room. The other's looked in Robin's direction and followed him. Laon wasn't badly injured, but looked exhausted. He had put up one hell of a battle.

"We will Starfire. But right now we have more pressing matters. Starfire, take Laon to the infirmary and treat his wounds. Cyborg, reset all the security codes and make sure that nothing can get in. Beast Boy, fix all the windows and start cleaning up this mess," Robin ordered, indicating the smashed up control room. "I'll help you in a few minutes."

"Ah Dude! Why do I get the worst jobs!" Beast Boy complained as the other's went to do their respective duties. When Robin didn't answer and merely gave him a 'I'm-the-leader-and-someone's-gotta-do-it' look, he gave in and got started. "Where are you going anyway!" he asked as Robin went to leave the room.

"To make sure Raven's okay and see how Laon is. Any more questions?" Robin smirked, trying to lighten the mood.

"Fine Robin! But next time, you're cleaning!" Beast Boy joked. Robin walked out of the room and Beast Boy turned into a fox and used his tail to dust off his precious Gamestation.

Robin was walking to the infirmary to see whether or not Laon was awake. He was, and Starfire was tending to his more minor injuries as he used his healing abilities to take care of the more major gashes.

"Friend Robin! Laon is fine now. See!" Starfire smiled, pointing at the Azarathian, who looked slightly annoyed at having a finger in his face. Robin ventured towards him.

"Who was that?" he asked. Thinking back over the fight, the language Laon had used implied that he knew the attacker, or had at least heard of him. Loan shook his head.

"I don't know. I only know that I saw him in Raven's vision." he replied in a monotone. God him and Raven really were alike. "Speaking of which, how is she?"

"I was just about to check. I'm sure she's fine." Robin smiled. Suddenly, the door opened to reveal Cyborg.

"I reset all the access codes. Now I think it's time for a proper welcome." he said, walking up to Laon, and gesturing for Robin to take over.

"Right. I'm Robin. This is Cyborg, that's Starfire, you already know Raven, and the green boy is Beast Boy. We're the Teen Titans, defenders of Jump City."

"Well it's only fair that you know me. I'm Laon from the planet Azarath, same as Raven. I am a warrior on my planet. No more needs to be said for now." Laon replied, getting up off the infirmary bed.

"Well, thanks for all the help. I insist you stay here for a while to rekindle your strength. It's the least we can do." Robin said. Laon smirked, then realised that resisting such an offer on this cold night and in his condition would be a fool's move. He lay back on the bed in answer to Robin's request.

"We have a much better room. Cyborg, Starfire, take Laon to Terra's room and then help Beast Boy clean up." Robin ordered as he left the other's to it. He walked to his bedroom to check on Raven. He was relieved that she wasn't hurt again, and wanted to tell her the good news that her friend was staying for a while. He opened the door and saw Raven lying on his bed, fast asleep. Robin looked at the scene, at how delicate and peaceful she looked. He went to his cupboard and found a blanket, throwing it lightly over her to keep her warm.

"Sweet dreams Raven."

* * *

Sorry I haven't updated in a while, but I lost interest in this story. Now I have loads of free time on my hands and i'll update again as soon as I can. Thanks to all my reviewers and I hope you're enjoying the story so farx 


	6. Secrets And Support

**CHAPTER 6 - SECRETS AND SUPPORT**

Raven awoke the next morning, but in a very different surrounding than she was used to. Instead of black walls and delicate ornaments in her line of sight, she laid eyes upon pictures of Slade on the far wall and some masks scattered on a neat desk. The masks were a giveaway that she was in Robin's room. Raven thought back to the fight with the mystery villain, who she was now calling Mystery, seeing as no one knew who he was. She thought about how Laon healed Robin, and how Robin had taken her here to rest before Mystery could hurt her. She sighed before materializing through Robin's floor into her own room.

'At least he's gone now'. Raven thought as she got changed into a fresh uniform and made her way down to breakfast. It was 10:30am, a little later than she would usually wake up, but the events of that night gave her an excuse to sleep in and regain energy. Raven turned the corner, coming up to the living area doors. Suddenly, she stopped as she heard a foreign voice speak…

"Me and Raven go way back. You could say we were best friends…"

"Laon?" Raven said aloud to the air. Why was he still here? He'd helped them defeat Mystery. He had no reason to stay?

Raven walked into the room and headed straight towards the kitchen to make her herbal tea, ignoring the five pairs of eyes looking at her.

"Hey Rae! Good to see you're awake!" Beast Boy smiled, scoffing down a helping of tofu waffles.

Raven ignored him as she put the kettle on to boil, patiently waiting so she could drink the relaxing drink she was craving. Cyborg, hating awkward silences, asked Laon to continue his story.

"Yeah, me and Raven were best friends, but then I was called on by the Azarathian royals to serve as a warrior. I was fighting a lot more, and saw less and less of her as time went on." Laon explained. By that point, all eyes were on Raven again, who had her back to them. Even though she couldn't see her friend's eyes staring through her, she could feel them, and was starting to get very uncomfortable.

"Aw new friend Laon. That is such a sad tale." Starfire comforted. "It's horrible that you and Raven were torn apart. You were obviously quite the close."

Laon smiled, something he didn't do very often. One, because the alien meant well, and two because she was so naïve.

"It is sad, yes. But Raven came to visit me a few weeks ago…"

CRASH!

Everyone looked around, trying to locate the sound of the crash. Robin turned his head to the kitchen, and saw the kettle of boiling water on the floor, and the boiling water on Raven, who was clutching her burnt hand. Her jumped out of his chair, completely forgetting about his breakfast, and ran towards her.

"Are you okay?" he asked with a high amount of concern in his voice. Raven fought back a few tears when she saw everyone around her.

"I'm fine." Raven said in a voice void of any emotion.

Robin carefully took her hand and examined it. Raven winced as his fingers brushed against it. She mentally reminded herself that getting boiling hot water on yourself was painful.

"Come on. Let's get this treated." Robin smiled, but with concern still outlining it. As he guided the empath out of the room and towards the infirmary, Beast Boy thought it was best to ask a question.

"Why don't you just heal it?" the green boy asked, gaining a series of evil glares from the other Titans.

"I can't, remember!" Raven sighed in reply to his question. Beast Boy mentally slapped himself for forgetting Raven didn't have her healing abilities.

"Why not?" Laon pushed the question further, staring at Raven. Raven didn't want to have to answer that, but she couldn't leave him standing there.

"I haven't been… feeling well." Raven sighed, dropping her emotional barriers and letting a little bit of sadness seep into her voice. Laon sighed, knowing better than to carry on with the conversation.

"Oh… well I hope you feel better. Cyborg, why don't you drive me around the city? You know give me a tour seeing as I'll be here a while." Laon smiled, changing his attention from Raven to the half machine standing next to him. Cyborg smiled and led the way towards the garage. Starfire and Beast Boy wanted to go along to welcome their new friend to Jump City, so they followed Laon and Cyborg, leaving just Raven and Robin in the room, each with their own thoughts running through their minds.

'_I could have sworn Raven sounded more depressed when she explained to Laon that she was sick? And Raven with the kettle, she is never careless. Something has to be going on. I'll ask her later.'_

'_How long is he staying! Azar no! This can't be happening! Robin is already suspicious of something, I can tell.'_

Raven was driven away from her thoughts when Robin started talking again.

"Come on Raven. We need to treat your burn." Robin took her to the infirmary, where she sat down on one of the beds, where she wished she could just fall asleep, wake up, and find out that this was all a bad dream, that everything from the moment of Mystery's attack had not been real. Robin was raiding the medical supplies for a burn aid kit, and quickly found one. He pulled up a chair next to the his friend's bed and pressed a cold cloth against her hand.

"Ouch!" Raven winced, pulling her hand away from Robin, or at least trying to, for the leader had her wrist in a firm yet light grip.

"Raven? What's going on?" he asked her. He watched intently as Raven's face softened and she turned away from him, completely avoiding eye contact. "Look at me Raven." he said in an orderly manner. When Raven didn't turn around, he traced his fingers under her chin, and carefully turned her head to face him.

"Raven. I dunno what's going on, but I know that something's wrong. I dunno whether it's because of what happened last night, or because Laon is here, but I know that you are never careless, especially careless enough to drop a kettle of scalding water all over you." he said with sympathy, slowly dabbing her hand with the cold cloth. Raven wasn't paying attention to her hand anymore, but she was thinking about Laon, and their friendship.

"I guess… it's because Laon is here." she replied slowly, tears brimming her eyes as she forcefully fought back against them.

"It must be nice seeing him again after all that time. He made it out like you were very close. It must have been hard for you to say goodbye to him like that." Robin said as he continued to treat her hand. Raven contemplated everything Robin had just said.

"You couldn't be more wrong." Raven whispered, as a stray tear fell down her cheek. Robin immediately noticed this, and moved from his chair to sit on the side of her bed. He pulled her into a light hug, confused about everything.

"I thought you'd be happy that Laon was here. I mean, the man saved your life." Robin questioned, holding the empath in his arms as she leaned into his embrace. Usually, she would never hug him, but right now, she found comfort in his arms, something she had been looking for in a while.

"Robin… Laon isn't who you think. He… he…"

"He what Raven?" Robin asked, pulling away from the embrace and holding her by the shoulders, growing more and more concerned by the minute.

"… He… he… ruined my life Robin!" And with that, Raven fell into a fit of tears. Medical supplies were surrounded in a black aura as the infirmary was trashed by her sudden sense of emotion. Robin grabbed Raven and threw his arms around her, holding her and rocking her as she cried her eyes out. She buried her face in the gap between his neck and shoulder, as he stroked her violet hair. After a few minutes, she calmed down enough for Robin to ask her some questions. He was very confused. Raven was talking in riddles, not giving away any clue as to why she was so upset about Laon being in the tower. He once again let her go, and held her at arms length, taking in every detail of her appearance and engraving it in his mind.

"Raven… please. I wanna help you. Please tell me what's going on."

Raven stared at him, into his mask that hid his eyes, the eyes that were at that moment scared for her, anxious about her, and wanting to help her. After weeks of hiding, it had all come down to this.

"Ok… but please promise me you won't do anything stupid." Raven asked. Robin nodded. "I don't want to tell you… but I'll show you… I'll show you everything I'm comfortable with you knowing."

"That's all I'm asking for Raven." he replied, readying himself for whatever Raven was about to show him.

Raven sighed and took a few deep breaths. Next, she put her hand to her head and recited a mantra in a shaky voice. Her hand glowed a lime green. Slowly, she raised her hand to Robin's forehead, stopping just before she touched his skin.

"This is from a few weeks ago, after I defeated my father."

Raven placed her hand on Robin's head, and he felt like he was on a roller coaster. His mind was somersaulting around, before it stopped at an image of Raven in a futuristic looking city. The city of Azarath…

_Raven stared intently at her home planet, thankful that it had been restored to it's peaceful setting now that Trigon had been vanquished. On her back was a rucksack filled with some books and various other things. She made her way past the buildings, looking with interest at the people she'd missed, all of which were wearing different coloured cloaks, which was the custom attire worn by Azarathians. _

_Raven finally found her destination, a tall tower which was taller than the others. She floated up to the top, and saw her mother, Arella, smiling at her._

"_Raven!" She smiled as she grabbed her daughter in a huge hug. Raven returned the hug, the emotion of happiness overwhelming her and making things become surrounded in her black aura. Luckily nothing blew up, one of the better qualities of Azarath._

"_I can't believe you did it! You defeated your father." Arella said, breaking away from the hug and looking at her beautiful daughter._

"_He's not my father, mother. He was just an evil waste of space who used us both." Raven replied, hugging her mother once more._

"_Ever since Azarath was restored, the Royal Meadows have been open to the public. You should go and see them, the flowers are wonderful. Plus, I'm sure the Royals would like to thank you for saving Azarath." Arella said, leading Raven towards the edge of the balcony, where they looked out to the Royal Meadows. Raven became downcast._

"_Why would they wanna thank me Mother? I destroyed Azarath in the first place. Trigon destroyed it to get to me, to weaken me… and he succeeded."_

"_He may have weakened you, but you became stronger. Everything that was ever made wrong has been put right again, and has made this planet a better, more harmonious place. The prophecy is no more Raven."_

_Raven smiled at Arella. "Will you come with me to the Royal Meadows. I haven't seen you in so long?"_

_Arella's smile vanished. "I'm so sorry Raven, but I have to tend to the doves. You go and I'll see you later."_

_Raven flew off the balcony and headed towards the Royal Meadows. She loved it there. As a child, she and her friends would go there and play in the flowers, laughing and dancing, and acting like children. She landed outside a huge silver gate, the entrance to the Royal Meadows. She followed the path until she came to a huge field covered in warm grass and exotic plants. For the first time in her whole life, she felt free, and celebrated by falling backwards onto the grass, feeling the blades massage the back of her leotard. The warm sun shone on her face…_

"_WATCH OUT!"_

"_Azarath Metrion Zinthos"_

_As if by instinct, Raven chanted her mantra and engulfed an oncoming sword in her energy. It dropped to the floor. She picked it up, and saw two teenage Azarathians running towards her._

"_I'm sor… Raven?"_

"_Laon? Is that you?"_

_Laon stared at the violet haired sorceress. He hadn't seen her in years, since he'd joined the Royal Warriors and she'd left Azarath to escape from Trigon to Earth. Laon and Raven were best friends as children, and he had known everything about her prophecy and the evil that she would eventually inflict on the universe. But he didn't care. He loved her for who she was._

"_Raven… it's been too long!"_

_Laon grabbed her in a huge hug, and Raven felt tears sting her eyes. Seeing her childhood friend just brought back so many memories. She looked over his shoulder and saw Laon's brother, Orion smiling at her._

"_Orion!" Raven said, going to hug him. _

"_Raven. It's so good to see you again." He replied, holding the empath._

"_What are you doing here? I thought you were situated on Earth?" Laon asked, drawing Raven's attention away from his brother. The three teens sat down on the grass as Raven told her story about the Titans, the prophecy and her birthday, and the end of the world._

"_Wow." Laon said afterwards, shocked at all she had been through._

"_So I came here to see Arella and to get away from everything at home." Raven finished explaining. She yawned. They had not noticed that it had grown dark outside as the sun began to set, to make way from Azarath's three moons._

"_It's getting late. Let's go back to my house and we can catch up more. I've heard your interesting story, the least I can do is tell you mine." Laon smiled, holding out his hand to help Raven up. She accepted, and she, Laon and Orion made their way back to their house. Orion went to bed as Raven and Laon stayed awake. She listened to his story about his adventures as a Royal Warrior. Soon, they had ran out of things to talk about._

"_Raven. I'm sorry we lost contact." Laon said, looking into her violet eyes and holding her petite hands. "I missed you a lot when we were younger, when I had to fight." He moved his head closer to hers. "I never wanted to leave you." He came too close. "Your beauty…" Suddenly, he pulled her into a rough and unwanted kiss. Raven tried to pull away but it was impossible. All those years of fighting had given him a strong body, which he pushed against her, pushing her onto the bed._

"_What are you…?" Raven managed to gasp as he released her from the kiss, only to straddle her hips._

"_What do you think?" Laon smiled evilly, pulling the clasp off her cloak. Raven became very scared, and the overwhelming emotions she was feeling were preventing her from fighting back._

"_Please! Laon stop!" Raven begged as he began to rip her leotard and pull off his own cloak. He locked her in another forced kiss, and she screamed in his mouth. _

"_You know you want this Raven. Don't try and deny it!" He whispered as he removed his trousers and began working on her underwear. Raven was so frightened. She mustered all her strength and magic to try and break free from this nightmare, but it wasn't enough. He covered her mouth as she screamed for help. They were both naked, and he had control._

"_NO! NO! PLEASE LAON!" Raven screamed into his hand, muffling her voice. Tears rolled down her cheeks and her breathing became ragged with fear. _

"_Don't worry Raven. Who knows… maybe you'll enjoy it!" he said evilly, as he prised her legs open and forced himself into her…_

Suddenly, Robin's mind went black as he was pulled out of the horrible account of Raven's memory. Before he knew it, he was back in the trashed infirmary, and Raven lay unconscious next to him. Tears fell down his face. That man, the man who was supposed to be her friend had betrayed her, and caused her so much pain. She had been hiding this for weeks, and he hadn't noticed anything wrong with her.

"Raven… I'm so sorry." he whispered, stroking Raven's hair. Slowly she awakened, tears brimming her eyelids. She fell into his arms and cried more than she ever had. Robin was trying to calm her down, but this was all too much of a shock to him. He had failed as a leader. One of his team members, his friend, had been hiding the ordeal for weeks, had been suffering, and he hadn't seen it. Robin stroked her hair and rubbed her back, hoping her wasn't making her uncomfortable. Raven looked up at him.

"I'm sorry you had to see all that." Raven sobbed, feeling guilty for making Robin cry, something he hadn't ever done to her knowledge. Robin held her hand and looked into her pain striken eyes.

"That's why you were feeling unwell and couldn't sleep, wasn't it?"

Raven nodded in answer to Robin's question, wiping the tears from her cheeks. "Everytime I close my eyes at night, I see him…" No more needed to be said. Robin suddenly felt a new feeling of extreme anger and the need to kill surge through his veins.

"I'm gonna kill him!" Robin shouted, punching the wall. This caused Raven to jump in fright. He felt bad for it.

"You said you wouldn't do anything stupid." Raven whispered, avoiding his gaze.

"RAVEN! HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT!" Robin shouted. "HE RAPED YOU! AND YOU EXPECT ME TO STAY BACK AND LEAVE IT!"

Hearing it out loud made everything worse. Fresh tears fell down Raven's cheeks. Robin looked at her, and for a moment all the feelings of anger disappeared, and were replaced with concern and worry.

"We're you tested?" Robin asked her, treading carefully so he wouldn't upset her more.

"Yes." Raven answered simply. Robin breathed a sigh of relief. At least she was safe.

They both sat in silence for a few minutes. Robin was sitting back in the chair, thinking about Laon, and Raven was lying on the infirmary bed, thinking about Robin.

"Robin." Raven said, catching his full attention. "None of them know… and I don't want them knowing… so please…"

"I won't tell Rae." Robin jumped in, holding her uninjured hand in support. "I'm going to get Laon out of here, so far away that he can never hurt you again!"

"Thank you Robin." Raven whispered, before Robin pulled her into a comforting and friendly hug.

"Everything is gonna be okay." Robin said, as the birds once again cried, except this time Robin shed the most tears…


	7. Anger And Apology

**CHAPTER 7 - ANGER AND APOLOGY**

A protected fist smashed hard into the punch bag, the owner releasing all his stored anger at it, making the weakening chain holding it creak as it goes backwards and forwards. Suddenly, with a roundhouse kick, Robin's foot caused the chain to fall, along with the punch bag. Sand fell around his feet as he collapsed to the floor, gasping for breath. Reaching for his water bottle, he resisted the temptation to scream.

After Raven had admitted to him about the rape, Robin held her crying form until she'd fallen asleep from exhaustion. He carefully carried her to her room, tucked her in and watched her innocent form. How could anyone ever take advantage of her? Raven? He felt so powerless as the anger in his system was starting to rise. He quietly left her room and ran straight to the gym to release his inner wounds… and here he was… sitting in a pile of sand, tears rolling down his cheeks, whilst Raven slept.

"How could I not have noticed?" Robin whispered to himself, unaware that someone else was in the room.

"Noticed what?"

Robin quickly darted around, jumped up and got in a fighting stance. Standing there with a confused expression on his face was Cyborg.

"Yo! Calm down man, I was just checking on ya." Cyborg smiled, which instantly turned into a frown when he saw his tear stained cheeks

"What's up man? And what the hell happened to the punch bag? That's the eighth one this month!"

Robin walked over to the bench and dried his sweat covered face. Cyborg followed, ready to listen to what Robin had to say.

"It's nothing. I'm just… frustrated Cyborg. What with that guy getting away and all." Robin lied, hoping that Cyborg would fall for his fib.

"Don't worry. We'll catch the guy. No villain has ever got the better of us, and this mystery person won't be the first." Cyborg smiled, placing his mechanical hand on Robin's shoulder. Next he got up, offering a hand to Robin, who accepted. They made their way out of the training room.

"So, where's Beast Boy and Starfire?" Robin asked as he walked towards his room with Cyborg in pursuit.

"Oh, they're with Laon…"

Robin zoned out after that, although you couldn't tell at the pace he was walking. Just the mention of Laon's name made him want to grab a knife and pierce it through his cold heart, just as a starter for the pain he inflicted on Raven.

"… so we came back… Robin? Earth to Robin…"

Robin stopped walking when he saw a hand wave in front of his face.

"Sorry. Look Cyborg we'll talk later. I'm gonna take a shower." Robin smiled. Just as Cyborg went back down the hallway, he called out.

"Oh, and Cyborg? Keep an eye on Laon."

"Why? Man he's a nice guy, and Raven's friend. We have nothing to worry about!" Cyborg smiled, moving again towards Robin, who had an unforgettable scowl engraved on his visage.

"That's what you think." Robin whispered, although Cyborg still heard him.

"What? Robin, man what's going on? You know you can tell me." Cyborg sighed, leaning against the wall.

Robin really wanted to tell Cyborg. He knew that out of all the other Titans, he could confide in him the most. Also, he was Raven's 'big brother', surely he'd want to know what that scumbag had put her through. But he'd made her a promise…

"I can't."

Cyborg stood in the hallway, alone, as Robin had gone into his room to shower. Cyborg sighed again and ventured towards the living room. On the way, he bumped into Raven, sending her flying.

"Whoa! Raven are you okay?" he asked, helping her up off the floor and apologising.

"I'm fine. I wasn't looking where I was going. Have you seen Robin?"

At that moment, Cyborg noticed the utter look of exhaustion that had taken affect on Raven's body. She had huge bags under her eyes and was slightly pale.

"He's… in the shower." Cyborg remembered. "Are you okay Rae? You look a little unwell?" He interrogated in a concerned manner.

"Yes, I'm fine. I just really needed to speak to Robin. But… I guess it can wait." She replied, sighing and heading back towards her room.

"Hey!" Cyborg shouted after her, grabbing her attention. "Laon was telling us all about you when we gave him the tour of the city. How come you never mentioned him before?"

The answer he got to his question wasn't what he was expecting, as he watched Raven in the short distance lean against the wall and vomit. He ran over to her and patted her back, concerned for his little sister.

"That's it. I'm taking you to the infirmary to rest. You are definitely not fine." Cyborg ordered her in a soft tone of voice, guiding her to the medical room and helping her onto the bed. He fetched her some water and some tablets to settle her stomach.

"Now, go to sleep Rae. I'll check on you later." he smiled.

"Cyborg? Can you tell Robin to come here after his shower? And that I need to speak to him?" she asked. Cyborg nodded and left Raven to rest, heading to the control room to make himself a snack. When he entered the room, he saw Laon and Beast Boy playing video games, and for once, Beast Boy was winning. Starfire sat next to them, cheering on Laon. She had grown quite attached to the Azarathian in the past few hours. Cyborg went to the fridge and pulled out the ingredients for the ultimate sandwich. As he was buttering the bread, he heard the door swoosh and saw Robin walking in in a fresh uniform and a towel around his shoulders which he'd just used to dry his spiky hair. Robin looked towards the sofa and saw his worse enemy sitting there, and so decided to talk to Cyborg, hoping he wouldn't ask anymore questions about how he was acting earlier.

"Hey Robin. Raven's in the infirmary and needs to speak to you."

"What! Why!" Robin asked in a more panicked tone, taking in Cyborg's words and wondering what was wrong with her.

"She threw up in the hallway and she looked tired, so I took her to the infirmary to rest." Cyborg answered calmly, although Robin was less than calm.

"_Oh my God! Vomiting? What if she's pregnant? She said she was tested!" _

Without saying another word, he ran out of the control room, slamming the door as he left.

"What's up with him?" Beast Boy asked anyone as he concentrated on the game at hand.

"Raven's ill and wanted to speak to Robin." Cyborg explained simply, taking a bite of the sandwich he'd just completed. Laon paused the game and stood up.

"I'm gonna go and see if she's alright." Laon said, emotionless as he tossed the game station controller to Starfire, who started enquiring what all the buttons represented. He ignored the alien and made his way out of the room.

* * *

Raven was lying on the rather uncomfortable infirmary bed. For the past twenty minutes, she'd been trying to sleep. But whenever she closed her eyes, unwanted images on Laon on top of her flashed into her mind. After three weeks of this, she would have thought she'd get used to it, but every time it just got worse. And now that Raven had told Robin her secret, it seemed even more real. 

Robin came bursting through the door, literally sprinting towards Raven's bedside. He saw she was awake, and lessened his pace and smiled, glad that the empath seemed fine now.

"Cyborg told me you were sick." Robin confirmed, moving a stray hair away from Raven's face.

"I'm okay now." Raven said, avoiding her leader's gaze. Using their bond, she answered his next question.

"And no, I'm not… pregnant." Robin breathed a sigh of relief and pulled a chair up to Raven's side and made himself comfortable.

"So, what did you want to talk to me about?" He asked in his usual caring way, all his attention focused on Raven as she inhaled deeply. She couldn't meet his eyes, feeling guilty and… dirty.

"I just wanted to say I'm sorry. I should never have shown you what happened."

At those words, Robin grabbed her by the shoulders and stood over her, but not in a menacing way.

"Look at me Raven." He ordered, and when she didn't obey, he shook her. "I said look at me Raven." With that, Raven slowly turned to face him.

"You have nothing to be sorry for, other than for not telling on of us sooner. For the past three weeks you've been suffering and hiding your pain, and I saw through it, thinking it was just the heavy crime fighting load we've had. I sat back as you carried those images in your head, and you never breathed a word. Raven, I'm the one who should say sorry. I failed you, as a leader and as a friend. I should have been there to help you, but instead I did… nothing."

Raven felt a tear fall down her cheek. Robin removed one of his hands off her shoulder's to wipe it away. She wasn't used to crying, in fact she hadn't cried in front of her friends… ever.

"_Am I really that emotionless?"_ She asked herself.

"Yes you are!"

Raven looked at Robin in disbelief at his answer to her private question. But Robin's mouth wasn't open, and he looked just as clueless as she was. Slowly, they both turned their heads to the doorway, and standing there, was the one man they both hated most at the moment, Laon.

"But I still love you for it."

Raven became terrified of Laon's voice and kept her face downcast, and Robin stood in front of her bed in a protective manner, guarding her from the demon.

"What are you doing here?" Robin asked with more anger in his voice that he'd had in any conversation with Slade.

"I came to check that Raven was okay? Is that a problem?" he asked, acting all innocent, although deep down he knew that Raven had blabbed about their little 'romance' if you will.

"She doesn't want to see you!" Robin said through clenched teeth.

"Funny. I didn't hear Raven say that." Laon smirked, taking a few steps towards the ailed sorceress.

"If you take one more step Laon…"

"You'll kill me? I don't think so Robin."

Robin didn't find Laon's confidence at all threatening, but still edged backwards and closer to Raven.

"Look. I don't know what's going on here, but I came to see if Raven is okay. So can you please leave us in peace." Laon asked, acting all innocent, indicating his question at the angered leader.

"After everything you've done to her!" Robin shouted, whipping out a bird-a-rang from his utility belt and aiming it at Laon. "You put her through hell! And you just expect me to step aside?"

"Okay… look I don't know what's going on..."

"I told him." Raven whispered, speaking for the first time since he'd entered the room. Laon glared evilly at her, and pushed Robin aside, slamming him into the wall. As he lay there dazed, Laon surrounded him in his energy. Raven gasped.

"Look. I just want to talk to you Raven. Grant my request and I'll spare your friend."

For Raven, it was the most bone chilling threat she'd heard that it put Slade to shame. He sounded so calm, and yet so antagonising. Raven knew that the only way to save Robin was to do as he asked, and although she was scared, her loyalty overtook it.

"Okay. But please, just let him go!" Raven practically begged.

The aura around Robin disappeared and the boy wonder groaned as he stood up. But, before he was properly to his feet, Laon resurrounded him in the aura and flung him out of the window, which was about thirty feet above the ground.

"RAVEN!" Robin screamed as he felt the cooling wind rush by him, speedily sending him towards the rocks at the bottom of the tower.

"ROBIN!" Raven made to get up and run to the window, but a certain friend of hers blocked the way.

"Now that we are alone, let's talk…"

* * *

I just wanna thank everyone who has read and reviewed my story so far :D Thanks for reading xx 


	8. Dangerous And Determined

**CHAPTER 8 - DANGEROUS AND DETERMINED**

The last thing he remembered before opening his eyes and feeling the sand between his fingers, was being thrown out of a window and the sudden rush of cooling wind against his skin. Slowly, he got up and groaned. Luckily he wasn't thrown at the rocks. Then, he remembered…

"Raven!"

* * *

Raven was trying to get as far away from Laon as humanly possible, but the fact that he'd locked them in the infirmary was proving it to be a difficult task. She was so frightened, but refused to give Laon the satisfaction of seeing it. She stood in a corner of the room, and Laon came towards her.

"Raven. All I want is to talk."

"That's what you said the last time! And look where that got me!" She screamed evilly, trying to keep her fear contained.

"Ah yes. That night was unforgettable." Laon whispered as he came close enough to Raven to make her shudder. However, she punched him as hard as she could, and sent him flying into the bed where she'd being lying just moments before.

"Shut. Up." she murmured in a low and murderous tone that would have made anyone shudder. Sadly, Laon wasn't just anyone. He picked up the bed with no trouble and chucked it in Raven's direction, and landed on his target. Raven tried to use her powers, but couldn't get away in time, and the bed hit her straight on. She pushed the bed off her, revealing her bruised form sitting in the corner, with a gash on her forehead which was seeping blood.

"Don't make me hurt you again Raven. I saved you and your friend's lives. Personally, I thought you'd be a little more thankful."

"Thankful! You turn up out of the blue and manipulate my friends into thinking you're some hero when all you do is hurt others!" Raven shouted shakily.

Laon sent orange lightning straight at her stomach, causing her to tense up and moan in pain.

"I didn't manipulate anyone Raven. Robin let me stay. It would have just been rude of me to ignore such a genuine offer." Laon walked over to her and knelt right in front of her now trembling body. "Besides. I couldn't wait to see you again…"

* * *

"So, the aim of the game is to defeat all the little mini monsters of the TV?" Starfire asked for the third time. Cyborg had long ago finished his delicious sandwich and was battling against Beast Boy on the game station, and as usual was winning. Starfire had been sitting there patiently, asking over and over again what was happening, but the boys were to caught up in defeating each other to notice. They didn't even look concerned when they all heard a crash. 

"Star please dude! You're breaking my concentration!" Beast Boy shouted over all the fighting sounds. Suddenly, all the sound went off and the TV went blank.

"Titans!"

Robin was standing there with several bruises on his determined yet worried face.

"Yo Robin! Why'd you do that for?" Cyborg complained, getting up along with the other's. "Whoa! Man what happened to you?" he continued.

"There's no time! We have to get to Raven!" Robin shouted.

"Where is she?" Beast Boy asked, sounding concerned that his team mate was in trouble.

"In the infirmary with Laon!" Robin said, clenching his hands into fists. The team looked at him blank.

"So what is the problem?" Starfire asked, completely clueless of why Raven was in danger if she was in Laon's company.

"Look! There's no time to explain! JUST GO!" Robin ordered. Not the people to ignore orders, Beast Boy and Starfire ran towards the infirmary. Just as Robin was about to join them, Cyborg put out this arm, obscuring his way.

"Robin? What's going on?"

"It's Laon."

"What about him. He's a nice guy!"

"…"

"Robin! What's happening! Don't tell me Laon gave you those bruises!" Cyborg said, piecing things together.

"Cyborg. Laon… raped Raven."

Robin immediately felt guilty. One, because he'd broken Raven's promise and revealed one of her secrets, and two, because of the look on Cyborg's face. Words the human half of his visage.

"What?" Cyborg spluttered, looking on the verge of tears.

"After she defeated Trigon, Raven went back to Azarath for a few days. There, she met up with Laon and… he abused her trust…" Robin couldn't go on, it was too painful to remember.

"But that was…"

"Almost a month ago. I know Cyborg. I know."

"And she's kept it to herself? For a month?"

"I only found out this morning. That's why I was in the gym. I was so angry and…"

"I let her down." Cyborg whispered, falling back on to the sofa as a tear fell down his cheek. "All that time, and she never even made it look like anything was wrong, even after being violated like that. I'm her big brother Robin! I should have been there!" He shouted letting his anger getting the better of him and smashing the coffee table, and then crying, not caring who saw.

"We all did Cyborg. And I understand how you feel but…"

"Man! How the hell do you understand! From day one, I was the only guy on the team who cared about her. She comes to me for advice and comfort! And the one time when she really needed it, she suffered alone! She's one of my best friends and part of my family Robin! How the hell do you understand how I feel?"

"Because I LOVE HER!"

Cyborg looked up at his leader. He just admitted that he loved Raven, the one person who couldn't show love. After all of Cyborg's weeks of guessing, he was right. Robin loved Raven.

"I love her Cyborg! And not in the brotherly way that you do. Do you know how much is pained me to hold Raven while she cried after she'd shown me what that evil bastard did to her? It was the worse experience of my life. Even worse that when she died to become the portal."

Cyborg couldn't reply. He was shook up. Utterly speechless. But he didn't need to, when Robin's communicator beeped. He watched as he took it off of his utility belt and opened it, revealing Beast Boy and Starfire's scared faces.

"Dudes! Where are you? Something's happening to Raven! And the doors locked!" Beast Boy said quickly. In the background you could here crashing, and could see Starfire flinging starbolts at the infirmary door.

"We're coming!" Robin said, closing the communicator and looking at Cyborg.

"They don't know. I don't want them to, and neither does Raven. She didn't want anyone else knowing. But the fact is that Laon is with her, and she's powerless." Robin prep talked Cyborg, as he got off the sofa.

"Let's go!" Cyborg shouted, running at full speed to the infirmary, where Raven was, with Robin not far behind.

* * *

Laon stroked Raven's arm slowly. She tried to push him away, but his years of battling had made him awfully strong, and Raven didn't have it in her. She shivered under his touch as it brought back painful memories for her. 

"Don't touch me." Raven whispered, fear now visible in her voice. Laon ignored her and moved from her arm to her bare leg. Raven wanted to scream, cry, anything! But she was too scared. She wanted nothing more than to materialize through the floor, but her emotions and actual lack of power wouldn't let her.

"Please." Raven begged, shaking uncontrollably. If she had her powers and any bravery, she would have rendered him unconscious ages ago, before he could lay a finger on her. By now, any earlier thoughts on hiding her fear were long gone. Laon stopped stroking her leg before he could go too high up, and whispered in her ear, his warm breath sending shivers down her spine.

"Can I tell you a secret?"

Laon didn't receive a reply, as he made himself comfortable and whispered into her ear the secret that she didn't want to hear.

"This was all a plan"

"What?" Raven shuddered, confused.

"This was all a great set up so that I could see you again, and finish what I started."

"What are you talking about?"

"Your mystery attacker was Orion, Raven. Remember him, my brother. I thought the eyes would be a giveaway."

Raven thought about the frightening yellow eyes of her attacker, and then Orion's eyes. Why didn't she see it before? All those years of being childhood friends with Orion, and she didn't even recognise him?

"So, you sent your own brother to attack me? Come again to the tower so that you could come and defend me, get in with the Titans and then…"

"My my. How's a clever birdie." Laon teased, stroking her hair. After hearing everything she'd just heard, she felt a little anger, and spat in his face. Laon, annoyed at her actions, electrocuted her harshly, causing her to scream in pain and buckle forward from her sitting position, right into Laon's arms.

"Get off of me Laon!" Raven screamed, but Laon just threw her against the opposite wall, and then sent the medicine cabernet flying at her. Raven, too weak to dodge it, took another painful hit, and moaned as pain ran up her body. Then, she could hear someone banging on the door. She finally had some hope.

"Not even your friends can save you now!" Laon threatened, as outside Starfire pelted the door with starbolts, demanding entry. Laon picked Raven up by the neck of her cloak and pulled it off, throwing her to the floor in the process. Before she could move, Laon jumped on top of her, and ripped off half her leotard.

"NO! NO PLEASE! NOT AGAIN!"

* * *

Robin and Cyborg arrived in time to see Starfire and Beast Boy stepping backwards from the door with worried expressions on their faces. They both looked tired from attempting to break down the door.

"What is it?" Robin asked, afraid of what they had heard.

"Friend Raven was screaming, and there were loud crashes." Starfire explained.

"Maybe she's winning… whatever it is that's happening! Robin you still haven't explained!" Beast Boy said frustrated at being kept in the dark.

"Beast Boy this isn't the time! Laon's dangerous to Raven! We have to get in there!"

"But maybe friend Raven is the successor. There was an awful lot of bashing noises." Starfire added.

"RAVEN IS POWERLESS REMEMBER!" Robin shouted, getting more and more angry and worried by the second. "WE HAVE TO BREAK THAT DOOR DOWN!"

"I'll override the access code." Cyborg informed them as he entered an overly long number into a box next to the door. Electricity came flowing through the buttons and electrocuted Cyborg, sending him flying into the wall. Starfire quickly helped him up.

"I thought that might be too easy." Cyborg moaned. "We gotta get in there!"

"BREAK IT DOWN!" Robin ordered, and the team brought out gadgets and used their powers to get into the infirmary, and save Raven from a terrible fate.

* * *

"STOP! PLEASE!" Raven cried, praying to Azar that her friends would get in quickly. Laon had ripped her leotard where her chest was, and was touching her in ways that no one should be… again.

"NO!" she screamed, Laon feeding off of her pain for his pleasure. Laon forced her legs open…."

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Suddenly, Raven felt power flow through her veins, an experience like no other. It was her fear releasing itself. A huge, black energy shaped Raven flew out of her, encasing everything that wasn't nailed down in a black aura and lifting it off the floor. Raven rose and screamed louder than ever. Laon was sent flying backwards and slammed into the broken bed that he'd thrown at her earlier. All of Raven's fear surrounded her like a hurricane, and she was the eye of the storm. She cried out as everything smashed and crashed around her. It was too much for her to bare. All the fear from that moment three weeks ago that she'd contained was spiralling out of her control.

* * *

Outside, the Titans stopped in their tracks as they heard the loudest and most heartbreaking scream any of them had come close too. More determined than ever by Raven's cries, they put all their possible strength into breaking down the door. Cyborg blasted it with the most powerful beam that his sonic cannon could fire. Starfire let her eyebeams go rapid and blasted the door at every angle. Beast Boy tried getting under the door as a spider, but the debris from inside the infirmary blocked his entrance. Robin flung bird-a-rangs, and released all his anger into the metal door which was in the way of him and his secret love and best friend. He wasn't going to let Laon hurt her again, not on his life. 

Finally, after what seemed like forever, the door weakened and flew backwards. Inside the infirmary, they saw a huge, black tornado destroying everything inside. The glass on the windows was smashed and the shards were flying around. The remains of the bed slammed against the walls. Needles and what not were also in the equation. The Titans were so caught up in the sight, that they didn't see Laon escape out of the window.

"RAVEN!" Robin shouted over the gusts of wind and crashes of objects.

"Where is she?" Beast Boy asked as they all entered the room, protecting their heads with their arms, and staying low.

"Raven! Answer me!" Robin shouted again. Then, he realised…

"She's inside the tornado!"

They all gasped, and then heard the dark sorceress' cries and screams, as all her fear was released at the prospect of Laon coming anywhere near her. All the memories about the rape gave the tornado the strength and ability to kill.

"I'm going in there." Robin said to his team-mates, all of whom looked stunned.

"Robin! It is not safe!" Starfire shouted as she avoided being struck with a syringe.

"Let him go. It's the only way to stop this and save Raven!" Cyborg shouted, understanding Robin's reasons for going in there. He knew about her ordeal. He had been there all though today. He had feelings for her that none of them could ever match.

Robin brought out his bo-staff to help him walk through the strong winds, and avoid getting hit with the wreckage that Raven was projecting around him. Just barely, he safely made it to the eye of the storm, and felt nothing. All he could hear was Raven. He looked up and saw the fear stricken sorceress, half naked, and crying.

"Raven! It's me. You're safe now!" Robin shouted at the terrified girl who he only knew as being strong.

"STAY AWAY!" Raven screamed, thinking it was the one man who took away her innocence.

"Raven. Please. It's Robin. We're all here to help you." Robin pleaded, hoping she would take in what he said. When he continued to hear her cries, he edged forward and got sucked up by the winds. He used the force of the wind to get up to her level, which was almost to the ceiling, and grabbed onto her and wrapped her in a hug. Raven screamed her heart out, not trusting anyone to touch her pale skin.

"Raven. Listen to me. I know you were violated and I know he hurt you, but I'm not here to harm you. Me, Cyborg, Beast Boy and Starfire are all here for you. You don't need to suffer alone. I love you Raven, and I swear that he is never gonna hurt you again!"

Robin's speech did the trick, and Raven leaned into his embrace. Slowly, all the flying debris collapsed to the floor with a huge crash. The black winds ceased and Robin floated back down to the ground. Raven remained in the air. The tornado got smaller and smaller until it wrapped itself around Raven. She screamed one last time as the black aura once again took the form of a huge bird, and flew straight into her body. Everything was quiet. No one dared breathe. Raven came catapulting down from the ceiling, and Robin caught her unconscious, weak form.

Cyborg. Beast Boy and Starfire ran over, all concerned for their friend. Robin held her gently as she fluttered her eyes open and saw everyone looking awfully concerned.

"He… he… almost…" Raven sobbed, and Robin wrapped his arms warmly round her.

"Shhh Rae. I know. He's gone now." Robin comforted the crying girl as a tear ran down his own cheek. He looked up and saw Cyborg let a tear fall as well when he saw that her leotard was ripped and her body was on show.

Beast Boy and Starfire had a brief idea of what had happened, but didn't want to say anything. To them, it was obvious that Robin and Cyborg knew what was wrong, and it was their job to care for her.

"Dude? Where did he go?" Beast Boy asked, looking around the busted infirmary.

"Out… the window." Raven answered. From inside the storm, she had seen Laon jump through it.

"Titans! Get. That. Man." Robin said in a voice cold enough to freeze the world. No questions asked, the Titans, excluding Robin and Raven, flew out of the window. Cyborg waited behind for a moment, and rested a hand on Robin's shoulder.

"Take care of her Robin. We won't let her down." Cyborg smiled, looking down at Raven's frail body against Robin's, seeking comfort and support. Cyborg ran out of the infirmary and down to the garage, jumped into the T-Car and sped out of the tower. All Robin heard was a broken girl's tears and the revving engine of a speeding car…


	9. Trust And Trauma

**CHAPTER 9 - TRUST AND TRAUMA**

Robin's masked eyes looked around the trashed room. Debris surrounded him, and a cold breeze came rushing through the smashed windows, making the girl in his arms shiver. Raven had been holding onto Robin for about ten minutes, sobbing quietly as he stroked her hair and told her everything would be alright. He knew it wouldn't be. Raven was now a broken bird. He just hoped that himself and her friend's could get things back to normal as soon as possible. Seeing her shiver again, and realising that half her clothing had been torn off, he wrapped his cape around her.

"Thank you." Raven shivered, her face worn down from crying.

"Raven. I'm so sorry that I wasn't here to help you." Robin said, his heart pumping guilt around his body.

"You couldn't have done anything." Raven whispered. Now more than ever, she'd lost all her confidence in herself, and trust for the people around her. Laon had taken away more than just her innocence. He'd taken away everything she had. When she didn't say anything else, Robin grew more concerned.

"Raven…"

"It almost happened again. I let him… touch me. I was… too weak to fight back. Powerless." Raven released herself from Robin and shakily sat in the corner of her room. Robin just listened to her as she poured her heart out, remaining where he was.

"Back on Azarath, he and Orion were the only friends I had. No one liked me because of who my father was, and what I was destined to do. They were the only people who would look at me without making me feel like an outsider amongst my own people. They were what made my childhood on Azarath half happy. Everyday we would play together in the grounds and share secrets. They were my best friends until I met you, Cyborg, Beast Boy and Starfire."

Robin felt tears well up in his eyes at the start of Raven's sad story. He was now sitting quite a distance away from her, just listening to what she had to say.

"When I came to Earth four years ago and met you and the others, I still felt so alone. I missed Azarath and Laon, but I was used to him not being there. I felt as if none of you liked me, and thought that you all thought I was just a creepy witch with extraordinary magical powers. That's why I was always in my room."

Robin thought back to when they all first met, and how secluded she was. He couldn't believe that she'd thought that. None of them had ever hated her, they just gave her her privacy. If he'd known that she felt that way, he would have done something about it.

"As time went on, I realised that you really were my friends, and I was finally… happy. I felt as if I belonged somewhere, and I felt accepted. But, then my prophecy came to pass. On my birthday, I just wanted to die. Sometimes, I wish that you never caught me when Slade pushed me off the building."

Robin stared at her. Even from the other side of the room, he could still see her body shaking slightly from her crying. She was holding his cloak closer around her body, like a security blanket.

'Did she really wish that? Did she really want to die?'Robin thought before he spoke.

"You shouldn't think like that Raven." Robin sighed, not taking his eyes off of her.

"I just wanted it all to be over. I didn't want to destroy the world. I didn't want to hurt you, or the others. I just wanted to die and then you could all move on with your lives without living in fear of me and Trigon."

"Do you really think that we'd have wanted you to die Raven! Do you think that we'd all just move on as if you'd never been apart of our lives!" Robin shouted. Raven didn't even shudder or look up at him. She continued looking at the wall, not afraid of Robin's anger.

"You defeated Trigon, Raven! No one was hurt other than you. You saved the world with our help. We came after you when we all thought you were dead. You didn't give up and you sent Trigon back to where he came from and made everything right again." Robin shouted. He didn't want to shout at her, but it was the only way he could see him getting through to her.

"I know. When he was gone, I was happier than ever Robin. Just to see you all safe was enough. I thought I'd lost you, but you were there with me. You came to save me. Everything was finally back to normal until all this happened, until Laon…"

Robin witnessed Raven suddenly collapse onto the floor. Quickly, he ran to the corner where she was lying and tried to wake her up.

"Raven?" He asked continuously, but to no avail. He held her limp form in his arms and bashed his head on the wall behind him. Why was everything so messed up! Why did Laon have to do what he did, and then return just to do it again! Robin looked down at Raven, and continued thinking. Raven was the strongest Titan out of all of them. She kept calm during crisis and was always there for the team, despite her personal problems. She's being though more than he will ever have to in such a short space of time. He felt so guilty that he'd failed her as her friend and as her leader. It was his job to make sure that everyone was alright, yet he'd let Laon stay at the tower and let him push him through the window and hurt Raven.

"He… didn't do it again."

Robin looked down, and Raven was awake, although she felt very groggy. Robin slowly lifted her up so that she was sitting against the wall, leaning against him for support.

"All he did was touch me. He's… done a lot worse before." Raven whispered to Robin, who slowly put his arm around her shoulder's and pulled her close to him. She tensed up a little, but then felt safe and secure in his arms.

"That doesn't matter Raven. We all heard you screaming and saw you in that tornado. What he did and didn't do means nothing. Either way, he'd made you afraid of everything you were ever comfortable with." Robin whispered back.

"Robin. I don't want to be afraid." Raven sobbed again, and then cried. She pushed her face into Robin's chest and let go of everything she was feeling. Robin was scared for her. Never before had she been so scared and cried so much. Knowing that he needed to be strong for her sake, he just held her and gently rocked her.

"Shhh Rae. I don't want you to be afraid either." Robin said comfortingly.

"All I ever wanted was to be loved. And now Laon has destroyed that. I can't trust anyone!" Raven cried.

"You are loved. I love you. Cyborg loves you. Beast Boy loves you and Starfire loves you. We always will, and you can always trust us to be there whenever you need us. None of us will ever hurt you in the way that he did. You know that… right?"

Raven looked up at Robin and smiled through the tears. "You're my family. I know I can trust you all… I hope."

"What do you mean?" Robin asked her.

"Laon and Orion were like my family too. I trusted them, and then they betrayed me and hurt me. Now look where we are." Raven sighed. "I know I can trust you all, but, at the same time, I know I can't."

"I know that what you've been through is tough, but trust me when I say that you will always have our support. We trust you, and I don't care how long it takes you, but we all want your trust as well." he smiled.

"Thank you Robin." she smiled back. They sat in silence for a few moments, both in deep thought. Finally, Robin broke the silence.

"What part did Orion play in all this?"

Raven had completely forgotten to tell him about what Laon had said. About how he sent his brother to attack her so that he could save me and attempt to rape her again. She spent the next few minutes painfully explaining his reasons, and with every word, Robin felt more angrier and guiltier.

"Raven. I'm so sorry I let him stay here." Robin sighed.

"You didn't know what he did or what he was going to do. I don't blame you for a second." Raven replied, still not lifting the Boy Wonder's spirits. "Actually, I should be thanking you."

"For what? You've said thanks already." Robin answered looking confused.

"No. I haven't. I wanna thank you for everything Robin. You've saved me so many times. From Laon and from Trigon. And you've taught me so much over the years, and made me feel like apart of something. You gave me a family. I owe you my life."

Choked up, Robin wrapped her in a hug and just held her.

"You don't owe me anything. I'd do anything for a… friend." He sighed, knowing that he wanted more, but didn't feel it was the right time to tell her how he really felt. Raven pulled away and smiled. "Just seeing you smile like that is enough."

Raven lightly blushed at his compliment, which was clearer than crystal when her face was as pale as it was.

"Come on. Let's get you in some fresh clothes and then you're going to bed to rest." Robin said, helping her off of the floor. Raven's legs buckled beneath her, but Robin caught her just before she hit the floor.

"Where are you going?" Raven asked, already knowing the answer.

"To help find and kill Laon. The others are already searching." he answered as he and Raven left the ruined infirmary with her leaning against him. "Cyborg can't wait to get his hands on him!" Robin laughed, then realising his mistake.

"What? You told him?" Raven gasped, immediately pulling away from Robin and backing up.

"Raven. He was worried and…"

"I trusted you!" Raven shouted. "You promised you wouldn't tell them! Any of them!"

With that, Raven went running down the hallway, her body protesting it from all the bruises and cuts, and eventually giving way on her, making her fall to the floor. Robin ran after her. Before then, he hadn't properly noticed all the physical damage because it was rather dark in the infirmary. She really did look worse for wear.

"Raven! Look I'm sorry, but I needed to. Lemme help you." Robin said, reaching down to examine her head wound.

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" Raven screamed, and Robin instantly backed away.

"YOU'RE THE ONE PERSON I TRUSTED ENOUGH TO TELL! AND THEN YOU GO AND TELL CYBORG! DO YOU THINK I WANT EVERYONE KNOWING HOW DIRTY I AM?"

She had started crying again, which disappointed Robin because moments before Raven had seemed fine. Well, as fine as one could be.

"You're not dirty at all!" Robin explained. "Cyborg was worried about you! We all are!"

"I. WAS. RAPED. ROBIN! I FEEL SO UNCLEAN AND USELESS AND WEAK! I DIDN'T EVEN WANT YOU KNOWING! BUT IT WAS ALL GETTING TO BE TO MUCH AND I THOUGHT I COULD TRUST YOU! I BET STARFIRE AND BEAST BOY KNOW TOO!" Raven screamed again, still on the floor.

"No one knows except for me and Cyborg, Rae."

"IT WAS ONLY MEANT TO BE ME WHO KNEW! ME AND THAT BASTARD!" Her breathing was becoming ragged and strained. "JUST AS I WAS STARTING TO FEEL MORE SAFE…"

"You are safe!" Robin said, kneeling next to her. "Now please calm down before you hurt yourself!" He begged, genuinely concerned for her health.

"I already am hurt." Raven whispered, before passing out. Robin knelt beside her, guilt flowing through his veins. Suddenly, his communicator went off. He opened it to reveal Cyborg's worried face.

"Is she okay?" He asked simply.

"No." Robin replied. "She just passed out. I'm taking her to her room now and then I'm coming to join you." he explained.

"Beast Boy found Laon and some other guy. Starfire and I are on our way to the docks now. Meet us there. I swear I'm gonna kill that guy when I see him!" Cyborg continued.

"No… I will!" Robin stated, deadly serious. "And Orion too!"

"Who?" Cyborg asked.

"That'll be the other guy. Orion is Laon's brother. He's the one who attacked Raven before."

"Son of a…" Cyborg muttered. "Well get Raven settled first. Why'd she pass out anyway?" he asked.

"She was tired of shouting at me." Robin sighed. "She found out that I'd told you and now she doesn't trust any of us."

Cyborg went silent for a while. "Damn." he whispered.

"I'll be there as soon as I can. Robin out." Robin closed the communicator and looked at the girl next to him. She was still out cold. He picked her up and headed to her room and lay her down carefully on the bed, tucked her in, and then sighed.

"I'm sorry Raven." he said, before running out of the room to go and kill the men who started this whole trauma in the first place.

* * *

Okay, this chapter wasn't the most exciting, but I feel that it needed to be added before the big fight scene. I hope the next chapter is a lot better. Thanks for reading and please review :) xx 


	10. Hatred And Hope

**CHAPTER 10 - HATRED AND HOPE  
**  
Cyborg charged at the villain, nothing but negative thoughts going through his brain. The images of Raven crying on the floor surrounded by debris. The memory of Robin telling him about Laon hurting one of his best friends. Never before in his life had he ever felt so much hatred for one person, not even Slade, Brother Blood, or Trigon.

"You really think you can defeat me Cyborg? Don't make me laugh!" Laon taunted, as the fight was starting to unravel at the pier.

Cyborg fired his sonic cannon, only to miss when Laon jumped out of the way.

"Pathetic."

Before Laon could move, the huge weight of a green elephant landed on top of him, before changing quickly into a cheetah and biting his pale flesh. Laon hissed and threw the cheetah off of him. Beast Boy transformed back into himself, and watched as Starfire released a fury of star bolts at the villain. Laon laughed as he jumped in and out of them.

"I never knew that Raven could even make friends! Being the heartless demon that she-"

"Shut the hell up!" Cyborg threatened, punching Laon in the gut and face. Sadly, Orion decided to step in, and corned Cyborg at the edge of the pier, whilst Laon was being kept busy by Beast Boy and Starfire.

"Bring it."

"If you insist."

And with that, Orion sent an electrical beam straight at Cyborg, sending him flying into a nearby stationary ship.

"Cyborg!" Starfire called, but was punched by Laon in the back of the head. She crashed into the side of a warehouse, and was unconscious.

Laon laughed. "Bunch of weaklings!"

Beast Boy swooped down speedily from the sky, preparing an aerial attack on Laon. Unfortunately for him, Laon had heard him, and counterattacked by pulling out his sword and slashing Beast Boy's 'wing'. He quickly changed back into himself and saw a fresh gash on his arm leaking out blood. He looked to find Cyborg, but he was preoccupied fighting Orion.

"You're sick! You won't get away with what you've done to Raven!" Beast Boy said in a monotone.

"Oh please. Do you really think that you can stop me, when the others couldn't? Face it Beast Boy, you're the weakest of the lot. You have no chance!"

"You don't know what I can do!"

Beast Boy's overwhelming feelings of anger for Laon, and fear and worry for Raven became to much to bear. He fell down on all fours, and winced as claws burst out of his shoes, fur flew out covering his green skin, and his canine teeth lengthened, transforming into vicious jaws. He roared, and charged at Laon, his determination to kill the man fuelling the beast on.

For a moment, Laon was actually scared. The little rut growing into a beast wasn't what he was expecting. Thinking quickly, he used his sword to block the beast's punches and scratches. Neither of them were tiring. Beast Boy found a gap in Laon's defences and head butted Laon into the wall of the warehouse where Starfire was recovering.

Beast Boy roared once more, charging at Laon again. Suddenly, the beast stopped, panting furiously as he looked at the sight before him.

Laon had grabbed Starfire and was using her as a human shield. He smirked when he saw Beast Boy stop running. Starfire was more awake now, and realising her situation, started to struggle against Laon's strong grip. It was useless.

From the other side of the pier, Cyborg saw the scene with Laon unfolding, and was about to go over and help, when Orion sent another attack his way. Smoke was coming out of his circuits, and parts of his mechanical body were giving off sparks from where Orion's electrical energy had struck him.

"I'm getting real sick of you man." Cyborg breathed as he got up from the floor, charging his sonic cannon up to maximum power and aiming it at Orion's head.

"Well then just let me finish you off and I'll be on my way." Orion retorted, getting into a fighting stance.

"Not gonna happen."

"Your choice."

"Lets end this."

Orion paused.

"Gladly."

Then his hands crackled with electrical energy. Cyborg's human eye widened when he saw a dangerous flash of light heading towards him. Smiling to himself, he ran while the smoke would still hide his figure, and looked back at Orion lying face down on the ground.

Starfire continued to struggle, and was still failing miserably. Laon thought he'd have a little 'fun', and tucked a wild strand of her long, vibrant hair behind her ear. Starfire gasped at the contact.

"Put. Her. Down."

"Don't worry. I won't hurt her. I prefer my women to be more… dark…"

Laon looked up, into a pair of dangerous eyes… hidden behind a black and white mask.

"Robin."

Next to Robin, Beast Boy transformed from the beast back into a human.

"Let her go Laon!" Robin threatened. He was not prepared to let another member of his team get hurt in the hands of this demon.

"She's not my type anyway. Too happy!" Laon threw Starfire to the side, where she was caught by Cyborg, who had come out of hiding after being saved by Robin's exploding disk.

"You freaks are really starting to get on my last nerve!" Laon shouted, picking his sword up off the floor. "Especially you Robin."

"I tend to do that when one of my best friends gets raped and abandoned by a supposed friend." Robin spat.

Beast Boy shuddered, and Starfire stiffened in Cyborg's arms. Both of them had a good idea about what had happened between Raven and Laon, but their suspicions were never confirmed. There had been no time from when Laon had locked Raven in the infirmary, to this present moment, to ask Robin or Cyborg for the story. Hearing Robin say that sentence made everything seem more real.

"You were meant to be her oldest friend! You and that other bastard! Yet you abuse her to the point where she's sick with exhaustion and fear! What kind of friend would ever do that!?" Robin continued, venom poisoning everyone of the words coming out of his mouth.

"She's a filthy half demon. She caused the end of the world. She's a monster!" Laon smirked. All the Titans surrounded Laon in a circle. Anger was apparent on all of their faces, and the four teenagers were using all their willpower not to kill the man right that moment.

"Plus, she has a hot bod-"

They never let him finish. Robin sent 5 birdarangs flying towards Laon. Cyborg sent the most powerful shot of power towards Laon that his sonic cannon could muster. Starfire's eyes glowed green as she fired her eyebeams and star bolts. Beast Boy changed into a snake, and spat venom at his target.

There was huge explosion as all the attacks met in the middle, and the Titans were sent flying backwards. Sitting up, rubbing his now sore head, Robin saw the silhouette of Laon lying on the ground. He and others stood up and took a step forward.

Evil laughter filled the silent night air. The Titans looked, wide eyed, as the smoke cleared, and they saw him surrounded in a orange aura, similar to Raven's. The laughter continued, sending shivers down each of their spines, as Laon stood upright, turned around, and faced his foes.

"I'm invincible Titans! No one can stop me! And with your precious Raven powerless… you have no hope of surviving this battle!"

The Titans regrouped, facing the villain, as they withdrew their weapons.

"_Laon must be destroyed! He has caused so much hurt to Friend Raven. He shall not live!"_

"_Raven is the strongest person I know. If she can survive against this dude, then so can I!"_

"_No one hurts my sister and gets away with it! Laon's gonna pay… with blood!"_

"_This man has destroyed Raven's life. He has made her lose her trust in us. He has broken her down in more ways than one. We haven't lost a battle, and this one isn't going to be an exception! I love her too much. We're gonna win… for Raven!"_

_  
"For Raven."_

_  
"For Raven."_

"_For Raven."_


End file.
